The formalin issue

A hype is being built up around detecting formalin in fruits, fish, meat and vegetables. Accordingly, the law enforcers have been trying to check whether vehicles entering the capital contain perishables treated with or soaked in formalin. The intention may be good, but the means employed are ridiculous. How is that so? In the first place, one gets the impression that it is only Dhaka city that must remain formalin-free while it is quite all right for the this toxic chemical as well as others to be in free use elsewhere in the country.
In the second, stopping as many as 1,925 trucks as they enter the city (which was done on Wednesday), only to discover that only 208 of the vehicles were carrying fruits is not only time-consuming but also leads to bad traffic congestion on the roads. The Dhaka Metropolitan Police were unable to inform people how many of these trucks contained fruits tainted with formalin. And, as if one did not know already, a police official informed us that dishonest traders were changing strategy, through unloading the offending fruits outside the city and then sending them on into urban markets by other means of transport.
Such an approach will not do and for a couple of reasons. First, the police have limited equipment to check formalin-contaminated fruits and vegetables. Second, it is not the job of the police as such and opens an avenue for corruption.
While one quite agrees with those who have called for a formalin-related policy on the part of the government, one also feels that handling the formalin issue must begin at the root. Ad hoc measure can't do with a problem as pervasive and deep-rooted as food adulteration.