Bhubaneswar: In a huge relief to fish eaters and fish sellers in the state, the state government Wednesday ruled out presence of cancer-causing formalin in freshwater fishes sold in the state.
Speaking to reporters here, fisheries director Prasanta Senapati said, “There is no need to be in panic while eating fish. We have collected fish samples from various sources and sent it to laboratory to detect presence of formalin. All have tested negative.”
Other than a pomfret fish, all samples sent to laboratory for examination tested negative for the cancer-causing chemical, he said.
A pomfret fish sample collected from Unit-IV market here was found carrying formalin. After that, samples of various fish species were collected from several places including Cuttack, Berhampur, Bhubaneswar and Balasore since July 13 and sent to laboratory for examination. Testing kits were brought from Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI), Barrackpore and Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), Kochi for the inspection.
The fish available in the state market is absolutely safe for consumption. The director, however, said that the department would continue to conduct surprise raids on fish shops and District Collectors have been asked to collect samples from fish-carrying vehicles and fish markets and send the same to the state laboratory. Besides, steps are afoot to generate awareness among the fish vendors, he added.
Earlier in the day, raids were conducted at fish markets in Cuttack, Berhampur and Rourkela to collect fish samples and send it to the food testing laboratory for quality testing.
Goa bans fish import
Panaji: The Goa government Wednesday banned the import of fish from outside the state till the end of this month, in view of the scare of formalin being found in it. “Instructions would be issued at Goa’s borders not to allow fish-laden trucks from outside the state,” Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told reporters here.