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Page No. : 11-17

ABSTRACT

Importation of frozen poultry meat is currently banned in Nigeria however; reports have it that such products are readily available in the market due to the activities of smugglers who are alleged to illegally add formalin to the smuggled poultry meat as a preservative. Exposure to high levels of formalin has deleterious health consequences. Therefore, assessment of formaldehyde contents in imported frozen chicken and turkey on sale in five major markets located in Ibadan, South west Nigeria, were studied between October, 2012 and February, 2013; in three batches using spectrophotometry. Result reveals a range of 0.063 mg/kg to 7.47 mg/kg (mean±SD; 2.82±2.4 mg/kg) of formaldehyde content in the imported raw poultry meat which is significantly higher (P<0.01) than that of poultry meat obtained from a local farm (0.02 mg/kg).

Keywords: Carcinogen, formaldehyde, poultry, public health