Food adulteration and unethical use of formalin

Abstract

Food adulteration has become a global problem. Adulteration is not only disregarding the hu-man rights for safe food, but also a serious threat to public health with numerous acute and chronic diseases. The physical and mental development has damaged by adulterated food. The consumption of adulterated food is silently poisoning human body everyday which may result a serious bad impact in our future. This thesis describes the health effects of the consumption of adulterated food, a complete narration of adulteration, and the role of the relevant authorities in its disposal. This thesis also focused on most common carcinogenic chemical adulterant called formalin (aqueous formaldehyde) which is widely being used especially in seafood, vegetables and fruits. Formaldehyde is a very useful chemical for various industrial and laboratory applica-tions but its unethical use in food and feeds as a preservative has become a hot topic and matter of headache from last decade. The main purpose of this study is to discuss the possible health hazards of ingestion or inhaling of different adulterants, how people are being exposed into this poison, some possible solutions to eliminate formalin poisoning and to determine the reasons behind food adulteration. The aim of this thesis was to create awareness about food adulteration and to create a positive change in customer and seller thought to value a good product then price.