KOCHI: With repeated incidents of the presence of formaldehyde in seafood coming to the fore, the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) has developed a testing protocol to check the chemical adulteration in seafood. The Quality Control (QC) laboratory of MPEDA is now equipped to detect presence of formaldehyde, which is wrongly used for preserving seafood and has been categorised by the WHO as “a potential health hazard for human beings’, a release said here.
KS Srinivas, chairman, MPEDA, said formaldehyde presence in seafood posed serious challenges on food safety and has a potential to become an irritant in India’s seafood exports to various markets. “The Kochi laboratory, accredited by National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories and approved by Export Inspection Council, has developed and validated a method for detecting formaldehyde in seafood using high-performance liquid chromatography,” he said.