by Phanida
Monday, 08 June 2009 22:10
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The ‘Food and Drug Administration’ of Burma has since yesterday started putting on sale a ‘test kit’, for detecting possible contamination by a banned red chemical dye in fish paste products.
The ‘Rapid Test Kit’ produced by the Health Ministry was put on sale for self-test by fish paste retailers to enable them to report directly to the FDA, in case of contamination by banned chemical dyes in their products and whether the products were fit for consumption.
“Yes, we have started selling these test kits today. We gave a demonstration of these test kits here too. They must test their goods themselves and report to us if their products are free from chemical dyes,” Dr. Kyaw Linn, FDA’s Director, said.
The test kit is for testing Rhodamine B dye. A similar test kit for ‘Auramine O’ dye was sold in May this year by the FDA.
Burmese Health Ministry officials gave a demonstration on how to use the test kits and the retailers had to pay Kyat 8,000 for each kit, a fish paste trader, who bought the test kit today, told Mizzima.
“The test takes just 15 minutes. First the fish paste specimen is put in a test tube and then a liquid is poured, maybe the base radical. Then the test tube is heated for about three minutes and the fish paste solution is washed and filtered after which the woollen cloth is washed with water again. Then the woollen cloth is dipped in the acid radical and heated again. If the specimen is contaminated with the banned chemical dye, then this dye can be seen in the solution,” the fish paste trader, who bought the test kit today, said.
“We do not need to buy an alcohol burner and test tube again. We have to buy only the woollen cloth and two chemicals, acid and base for more tests. The Health Ministry told us that we can sell our products if they were found to be chemical dye free and we cannot if they were contaminated,” he added.
This test kit is meant for testing 10 times. It includes two bottles of acid and base, 10 pieces of woollen cloth, one test tube and lab-used alcohol burner.
Similarly the Health Ministry is selling disposable test kits for testing ‘Auramine O’ in pickled tea leaves products at Kyat 800 per kit, which can ensure the test within 10 minutes.
The FDA banned 59 raw fish paste brands and 20 fish paste products on May 1, after they were found to be contaminated with a chemical dye and unfit for consumption.
The Voice Journal reported that FDA could sell a total of 250 test kits from the beginning of May to May 27, of which 100 test kits were sold in Rangoon and 150 in other towns and cities, according to an official of FDA.
In the pickled tea leaves test kit for banned yellow dye, there are two glass containers with volume scales, a bottle of chemical reagent, 10 pieces of glass rods wrapped with woollen cloth, two plastic spoons and an instruction manual enclosed in the kit.
The Health Ministry announced that over 100 brands of pickled tea leaves and about 80 brands of fish paste and fish paste products were unfit for consumption for being contaminated with banned yellow and red chemical dyes (Rhodamine B) respectively.
The red chemical dye is supposed to be used for dyeing cotton fabrics, wool, paper and hides and also it is used in the laboratory as a chemical reagent.
Some fish paste producers used the banned red chemical dye for colouring their products to attract customers. It can cause inflammation of the digestive system and intestines, nausea, vomitting and also affects the brain and nervous system in the short term and can cause cancer in the long run.
Monday, June 8, 2009
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