The Bihar government on Monday banned the sale, transportation and storage of fish for 15 days in Patna Municipal corporation area after reports confirmed the presence of toxic chemical formalin in samples.
The decision was taken following the report of Kolkata’s Central Food Laboratory, which confirmed the use of formalin and other heavy minerals like lead, cadmium and mercury beyond the permissible limit in all 10 samples of fish collected from Patna, officials said.
“Keeping public safety and health in mind, the department has decided to ban the sale, transportation, storage of all types of fish for 15 days in Patna Municipal corporation area. “All the 10 samples were found unsafe for human consumption under Food Safety and Standards Act 2006,” Bihar Health Department’s Principal Secretary-cum-Food Safety Commissioner Sanjay Kumar told reporters.
Food Safety Officials had collected 10 samples from Patna Municipal Corporation area on October 10, 2018, and sent them to the Central Food Laboratory, Kumar said, adding, the specimen included local fish and those imported from Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. Formalin was found in excess of the permissible limit in seven samples, while the heavy metals were detected in all 10 samples, he said.
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