DANGERS OF FORMALDEHYDE

Shannon News, 31 October 1924, Page 1

DANGERS OF FORMALDEHYDE

UNRESERVED CONDEMNATION CHILLED BEEF EXPERIMENT Public attention lias recently been directed to the dangers of consuming formaldehyde (says the Auckland "Herald"). They are emphasised i'a a report by a departmental committee of the British Ministry "*" of Health, which has unreservedly confirmed the view that even in small quantities formaldehyde is injurious, and has expressed a general condemnation of its use in any article of food or dri'ak.

The committee was appointed in July, 1923, to report upon the use of preservatives and colouring matters in food, and has now made a special 1 report on the use of formaldehyde, especially in connection with chilled beef. This subject was raised by the experimental shipment from New Zealand of meat treated by the Linley process, which comprises the treatment of chilled meat before shipment vyith formaldehyde vapour, the sterilising of the.ship's hold by the same process, and the circulation through the hold during the voyage of arti-ficially-dried air. "A Powerful Poison."

"Formaldehyde is a preservative substance which is inimical to life and to vital processes of all kinds. It is a powerful protoplasmic poison," the report states. "Formaldehyde* when ingested, exerts an irritant action upon mucous membranes, and after prolonged use appears to cause inflammatory changes in the liver and also in the kid'aeys,. where a portion of it is excreted. In the body formaldehyde is partly oxidised to formic acid and partly excreted unchanged; in its passage through the body it combines with tissue proteins, and this combination renders its excretion slow, so that it is probably cumulative; and this feature makes its use as a preservative of food particularly objectionable.", It is also stated that formadlehyde "is known to produce gross changes in the composition of food materials, s and to be inimical to life even in high dilution."

The report recalls that, reporting on a similar inquiry in 1901, a departmental committee regarded the addiction of formaldehyde to food or drinks as so objectionable that it recommended that its use for such purposes should be absolutely-prohibited. Such prohibitions are almost universal, and the present committee has no hesitation in recommending: that the addition of formaldehyde or any of its derivatives to food or dri'nk should be absolutely and specifically prohibited."

Prohibition by Argentina. The report then proceeds to review the history of experiments with the Linley process of treating cliilled beef with formaldehyde vapour, some shipments having been made from the Argentine and Australia. The committee states that in February, 1923, the Government of Argentina, the country with the largest export trade in chilled beef, prohibited the treatment of meat by. the Linley process, while the United States Government has specifically prohibited the importation of meat treated with formaldehyde. chief reason given for the proposal to revive the process was that it would enable the establishment of a trade in chilled beef from Australia. For the information of the committee, and to demonstrate the process, a firm of importers arranged for a trial shipment to London. It was made from Wellington by the steamer Kent, last January, the meat treated comprising 457 uarters of beef. The experiment was a failure. On examination at Auckland, 26 days after trejatmenjt at Wellington, t,he air in the hold was: foul, and the beef showed signs of mouldiness. Eventually the beef was frozen, but on arrival at London "there were copious growths of mould upon it, and the whole shipment was condemned. Various reasons wer© given by the inventor for these results, but the committee's conclusions were not influenced by the failure. Its objection to the process was that, as proved by examination of the meat, the forinadlehyde penetrates into the tissues of the treated meat, and that the quantity absorbed cannot be controlled. Moreover, the committee was definitely of opinion -.that even if the amount could be restricted —say, to two or three parts per million in a surface layer of beef, 7 to 10 milimetres thick—-.the process could not be approved, because formaldehyde is objectionable even in small quantities.

Finally, the committee declares that "fro exception in favour of the Linley. process shoutd be made from eur general condemnation of the use of formaldehyde in any article of foocfor drink. We, recommend that "the treatment of meat with formaldehyde or any of its derivatives should be specifically prohibited."