Mohon tunggu...
Muhammad Hanif F
Muhammad Hanif F Mohon Tunggu... Ilmuwan - Pelajar/ Mahasiswa

Seorang mahasiswa program studi S1 Kimia

Selanjutnya

Tutup

Healthy

Formalin and Borax in Meatball

9 Januari 2024   19:06 Diperbarui: 9 Januari 2024   19:15 144
+
Laporkan Konten
Laporkan Akun
Kompasiana adalah platform blog. Konten ini menjadi tanggung jawab bloger dan tidak mewakili pandangan redaksi Kompas.
Lihat foto
Kesehatan. Sumber ilustrasi: FREEPIK/Schantalao

Food safety is an important concern because the presence of harmful subtsances in food can pose a serious risk to public health. One such issue is the use the borax and formalin as food additivies, raising questions abaout their potential health effects. 

The purpose of this artickel is so investigate the presence of borax and formalin in foods, the risk associated with them, and the search for the safer alternatives. Understanding these issues will enable you to prioritize consumer safety, advocate the use of save and natural ingredients in your food.

The public has frequently been concerned by the use of borax in food. There are still a lot of foods that contain borax even if the government has outright banned it. Actually, the organs' ability to operate normally might be harmed by this substance. Borax is frequently used as a preservative and chewy agent in food, although its usage is misused. Some people can make more money since borax is inexpensive and easy to purchase. Borax has harmful impacts on one's health.

Given the significant impact on public health, it is imperative to have a conversation about the presence of borax and formaldehyde in meatballs and other food items. Foods high in formaldehyde and borax can lead to a number of health issues, including cancer, neurological diseases, internal organ damage, and digestive issues. 

For this reason, it's critical to identify and avoid certain substances in order to safeguard consumer health. It is forbidden and perhaps harmful to use formalin and borax to preserve food. To raise public awareness of dangerous substance misuse practices in the food sector, this problem has to be extensively highlighted. By talking about this subject, people will have a better understanding of how to recognize and avoid eating foods that contain formaldehyde and borax.

Borax or in its scientific name know as sodium tetraborate decahydrate (Na2B4O3) or sodium piborate (NaB4O4) is a preservative know to the general public for preserving wood, wood antiseptic and cockroach control. The physical appearance of the borax is in the form of a white crystalline powder. Borax has no odor when inhaled using the sense of smell and does not dissolve in alcohol.

Formoform, Superlysoform, Methanal, Methylene aldehyde, Paraforin, Morbicid, Oxomenthane, Polyoxymethylene glycols, and Formalith are additional names for formalin.Formalin is a colorless solution and has a very pungent odor.

 Formalin contains around 37 percent formaldehyde in water, usually with up to 15 percent methanol added as a preservative. Formalin is know as a pets killing agent (disinfectant) and is widly used in industry. 

A particular chemical that is frequently employed as a germ killer is formalin. In actuality, formalin and borax are frequently misused as food preservatives and thickeners in foods like meatballs, noodles, crackers, and empek-empek. Because it can affect liver, kidney, and central nervous system function, borax poses a health risk. Symptoms that are immediately apparent include burning feeling, nausea, vomiting, allergies, redness, crying eyes, and dizziness.

Boric acid and its compounds are one form of food additive that is not permitted in food items. Because boric acid and its compounds are carcinogenic chemical substances. Even though borax is hazardous to one's health, it is nonetheless frequently employed ad a food additive because, in addition to acting as a preservative, it ca improve the texture of meatballs and crackers, making them chewier and more appealing to customers. 

Characteristics of foods that contain borax are: meatballs, wet noodles, and otak are instances of food varieties that have a very chewy and crunchy surface and incorporate borax and formaldehyde. Food varieties containing formaldehyde and borax tend to be really strong, shape safe, and challenging to obliterate. Food sources that have been presented to formaldehyde might smell firmly of formalin. Flies and ants do not cover foods containing borax or formaldehyde, suggesting that these two preservatives are not easily destroyed. 

There are multiple ways of separating between food sources containing borax and formaldehyde, for example, testing with a toothpick that is first spread with turmeric, then dried in the sun until dry. In the event that the food contains borax, an brownish yellow variety will change following a couple of moments. then, at that point, the substance of formaldehyde, borax and food shading can likewise be resolved utilizing a bright light. 

The method is the same as testing money. If you see a bright color, you need to be suspicious. pH looks at can likewise be conveyed to recognize the presence of borax and formaldehyde in food. remember that food sources containing formaldehyde can have a hard surface, excessively chewy however not thick, while food sources containing borax will more often than not be extremely chewy.

Customers are completely at risk for serious health problems when meatball goods contain formalin and boraks. To protect customer safety, food sellers must abide by food safety laws and refrain from adding dangerous ingredients to their goods. In order to protect the public's health and wellbeing, regulatory bodies must also impose stringent monitoring and control measures to stop the use of formalin and borax in food items. 

Be sure to purchase the products made from natural resources, including meat, fish, and vegetables, as these items don't have a lot of formaldehyde or borax in them. Make cautious to select an authorized vendor and review the marketing information when purchasing food online. Food that has been shoddily or irresponsibly packed may include formaldehyde and borax. This can help reduce the risk of exposure to these dangerous substances. Therefore, choosing food wisely is very important to do.

References

BPOM. (2007). Informasi Penanganan Bahan berbahaya : Boraks (Borax). Direktorat

Dody. (2003). Penggunaan boraks pada makanan dengan bahan pengawet alami karagenan; Bandung.Fessenden & Fessenden. (1997). Kimia Organik. Jakarta : Erlangga.

Nurkhamidah, S. ., Altway, A. ., Winardi, S. ., Roesyadi, A. ., Rahmawati, Y. ., Machmudah, S. ., Widiyastuti, Nurtono, T. ., Zullaikah, S. ., & Qadariyah, L. . (2017). Identifikasi Kandungan Boraks dan Formalin pada Makanan dengan Menggunakan Scientific Vs Simple Methods. Sewagati, 1(1), 26--34.

Saputro, Thomas. 2015. Uji Boraks Dalam Bahan Pangan

Syaroni. 2014. Laporan Uji Boraks.

HALAMAN :
  1. 1
  2. 2
Mohon tunggu...

Lihat Konten Healthy Selengkapnya
Lihat Healthy Selengkapnya
Beri Komentar
Berkomentarlah secara bijaksana dan bertanggung jawab. Komentar sepenuhnya menjadi tanggung jawab komentator seperti diatur dalam UU ITE

Belum ada komentar. Jadilah yang pertama untuk memberikan komentar!
LAPORKAN KONTEN
Alasan
Laporkan Konten
Laporkan Akun