Formadehyde-laden chickens found in North Jakarta markets

The North Jakarta agriculture, maritime and animal husbandry office found formaldehyde-laden chickens at Kali Baru and Rorotan traditional markets in North Jakarta during an impromptu visit to several markets in the area, officials said Wednesday.

Officials found one vendor selling suspect chickens at Kali Baru and another two at Rorotan.

The vendors were not arrested, but the office plans to monitor them.

Office head Riyana Faiza said the formaldehyde was injected into chicken carcasses to make them look fresh.

"It's easy to tell ... as it makes the chicken's skin whiter and there are no flies crowding the carcasses, which are usually kept in the open at the market.

"The impact of consuming these chickens may not be noticed right away but in a long term it could cause chronic (health) problems," she said, as quoted by Detik news portal.

She said the public needed to be careful when buying beef and chicken at traditional markets.

During the visit, officials also collected meat samples to check that vendors were not mixing beef with pork and selling it as pure beef.

The use of formaldehyde is currently under government scrutiny as a significant amount of it has recently been found in candies and cosmetics, which have been withdrawn from sale.

Previously, formaldehyde was also found in tofu, meatballs and noodles in the city.

In the short term, formaldehyde, which is usually used for embalming, can cause headaches and respiratory problems. Over the long term, it can cause cancer.

Deputy head of the Jakarta Agriculture, Maritime and Animal Husbandry Agency, Adnan Ahmad, told The Jakarta Post that the use of formaldehyde in foodstuffs was strictly forbidden.

He said any vendors caught using it would receive three notices before being taken to court and face a maximum of three months in jail.

"It is hard to have vendors really pay attention not to use formaldehyde. If one vendor gets busted than nobody would use it again at the market until our monitoring slackened," he said.

The city frequently has problems with food safety due to the lack of monitoring.

Several months ago, Trans TV reported watermelon vendors were using additives to make the inner flesh of the fruit redder.

Beef sellers were also caught watering meat to make it heavier for sale.

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