The authorities will take those behind the supply of formalin-laced fish to task, though the Commissionerate of Food Safety is short-staffed.
The importation of fish from outside the state was banned for a period of 15 days last week after it emerged that a worryingly high percentage of fish that was tested was found to contain formalin, a banned substance used by unscrupulous persons to delay deterioration of the fish meat.
At a press conference today, Food Safety Commissioner RM Kurbah said that whoever is behind the illegal practice will be taken to task. Food safety standards bans the use of formalin and those guilty can be sentenced to lengthy terms in prison, she added.
Out of 42 samples, 30 tested positive for formalin, leading to the ban on imported fish, though that which is produced within Meghalaya has not been affected by the ban.
Informing that sampling is carried out every day, Kurbah said that the food safety team is focused on rohu as being contaminated by formalin.
“We’ll be submitting a report very soon and we have identified the suppliers and thereafter it’s up to the government how to go about it in this matter,” she said.
Assistant Commissioner of Food Safety, DBS Mukhim, said that based on the reports received from the laboratory on June 8, the number of positive samples was alarming. The fish was collected at random for sampling from every district by enforcement officers and were brought to the laboratory under refrigerated conditions, according to guidelines.
On the problem of manpower faced by the Commissionerate, Kurbah said they have five food safety officers, which is three short of the full allocation. A stopgap proposal to fill these three posts on a contract basis has been sent to the state government, she added.
