In daily activities, we need food. The food we eat is also of various kinds. To get the food we want, we can make it ourselves or by buying it in food stores. The food contained in shops is certainly not new or even more than a week. However, the food is not rotten. The reason is that there are preservatives.
Formalin is one type of material commonly used as food preservatives by several people. Formalin can preserve food because the aldehyde groups that are easy to react with proteins form methylene compounds (-NCHOH). Thus, when protein foods are watered or soaked in formaldehyde, the aldehyde groups from formaldehyde will bind to the protein element. The bound protein cannot be used by spoilage bacteria, so the formalin food becomes durable. In food, formalin is usually the most crowded issue used to preserve food in the form of fish, meat, chicken, tofu, noodles, and others so as not to rot quickly.
However, the actual function of formalin is not to preserve food. Formalin serves to preserve materials such as plywood, fabrics, carpets, etc. so that they are not easily damaged. In foods containing formaldehyde, the protein in these foods will form methylene compounds. The body cannot digest protein with methylene compounds. So, it will have a bad effect on the human body. quoted from cnnindonesia.com, according to Ari, a specialist in internal medicine from FKUI-RSCM, "Formalin for the human body is known as a toxic substance, a carcinogen (causing cancer), mutagen (causing changes in cells, body tissue), corrosive and irritative,". "Some things must be considered if poisonous substances enter the body sooner or later there will be undesired effects on our bodies," Ari said. Carcinogens in formalin can trigger cancer cells. Carcinogens cause cancer by changing deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in the body's cells, and this disrupts biological processes.
So, we must be careful about buying food in shops or kiosks. There may be preservatives such as formalin. Formalin can be removed or reduced in the food by immersion with water, saltwater, water used for washing rice with a specified time.
