The 2005 Indonesia food scare was a food scare in 2005 in
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
, Indonesia, when the government found that 60% of noodle shops in the capital had been serving noodles laced with
formaldehyde
Formaldehyde ( , ) (systematic name methanal) is a naturally occurring organic compound with the formula and structure . The pure compound is a pungent, colourless gas that polymerises spontaneously into paraformaldehyde (refer to section F ...
, a known
carcinogen
A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that promotes carcinogenesis (the formation of cancer). This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes. Several radioactive substan ...
. Noodles in the
2007 Vietnam food scare
The 2007 Vietnam food scare was a food scandal which exposed contaminated food. Among the issues were formaldehyde in noodles of the national dish, phở, banned pesticides in vegetables and fruit, and toxic soy sauce
Soy sauce (also called si ...
also had the same contaminant, and the chemical preservative had also definitely been found on
tofu
Tofu (), also known as bean curd in English, is a food prepared by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness; it can be ''silken'', ''soft'', ''firm'', ''extra firm'' or ''super firm ...
, noodles, and salted fish. Thailand has similar formaldehyde problems. Rumors spread that it was used on chicken as well.
This was particularly bad in a nation like Indonesia where chicken is widely consumed because of the Islamic stance on pork.
Other food contaminants found by
Depok en, Starfruit City
, motto =
''Pariraca Darma''(Servant of the righteousness)
, image_map = Map of West Java highlighting Depok City.svg
, mapsize =
, map_caption ...
Health agency in elementary schools in 2006 were
sodium benzoate
Sodium benzoate is the sodium salt of benzoic acid, widely used as a food preservative (with an E number of E211) and a pickling agent. It appears as a white crystalline chemical with the formula C6H5COONa.
Production
Sodium benzoate is commo ...
,
cyclamate
Cyclamate is an artificial sweetener. It is 30–50 times sweeter than sucrose (table sugar), making it the least potent of the commercially used artificial sweeteners. It is often used with other artificial sweeteners, especially saccharin; ...
and
borax
Borax is a salt (ionic compound), a hydrated borate of sodium, with chemical formula often written . It is a colorless crystalline solid, that dissolves in water to make a basic solution. It is commonly available in powder or granular form, ...
exceeding the permissible levels. Benzoate and cyclamate were commonly used as food additives in Indonesia. Other substances found in the samples, such as
borax
Borax is a salt (ionic compound), a hydrated borate of sodium, with chemical formula often written . It is a colorless crystalline solid, that dissolves in water to make a basic solution. It is commonly available in powder or granular form, ...
,
rhodamine
Rhodamine is a family of related dyes, a subset of the triarylmethane dyes. They are derivatives of xanthene. Important members of the rhodamine family are Rhodamine 6G, Rhodamine 123, and Rhodamine B. They are mainly used to dye paper and inks ...
, formaldehyde and
Methyl yellow —used as a dye—are not fit for consumption.
See also
*
Food contamination
Food contamination refers to the presence of harmful chemicals and microorganisms in food, which can cause consumer illness. This article addresses the chemical contamination of foods, as opposed to microbiological contamination, which can be found ...
*
2008 Chinese milk scandal
The 2008 Chinese milk scandal was a significant Food safety incidents in China, food safety incident in China. The scandal involved Sanlu Group, Sanlu Group's milk and infant formula along with other food materials and components being adultera ...
References
External links
Formaldehyde found in school snacks
{{Consumer Food Safety
Food safety scandals
Indonesia Food Scare, 2005
Food scares
2000s in Jakarta
2005 health disasters
Health disasters in Indonesia