P.1-million fish laced with fabric dye, MSG seized at Malabon market

The Bureau of Fish and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and Malabon City authorities seized some P.1 million worth of contaminated fish during a raid at the city public market early yesterday.

“The confiscated fish were contaminated with toxic substances and were unfit for human consumption,” Dr. Billy Goco, Malabon City health officer, told The STAR.

He said their tests showed that the seized fish – mostly yellowfin tuna, dalagang bukid and tamban – in more than 20 tubs had been smeared with monosodium glutamate (MSG), fabric dye and food coloring.

“They were unhealthy to eat, so instead of donating to the prisoners or to the zoos… as we often do for those caught through blast fishing, we decided to just bury them,” Goco said.

He said the MSG was applied to the fish to make the scales shiny, and the fabric dye and food coloring to make the gills look red, noting that shiny scales and red gills indicate the fish was still fresh.

Malabon City police chief Senior Superintendent Roberto Villanueva said BFAR personnel, in coordination with the office of Mayor Canuto Oreta, raided the local public market after receiving reports that unscrupulous traders “admitted putting preservatives and colorings to the fish they sell but only on a very minimal level. The practice is still illegal.”

Villanueva said the color of the water in the tubs that contained the seized fish showed that they were “heavily colored.”

“The seized fish has an estimated value of some P100,000 but no arrest was made (because) nobody claimed ownership of them,” he said.

Villanueva said the BFAR and the local government will remain on alert to prevent the “unhealthy and illegal practice” at the local fish market in Malabon City.