We all knew that any perishable item sold to market has preservatives. This a substance that is used to preserve any food from decomposition. Its proper use is very helpful to preserve items that are easily decayed like fish, fruits and vegetables. The safety of its use is under question in some sector of consumer's watchdog being tasked to supervise the proper use of the preservatives.

But watching is not enough because most of the seller used preservatives to the fish more than what is needed either at home or in hideous places so that they cannot be detected by the task force and used this repeatedly to allow fish to stay fresh everyday. The consumer are not sure of its freshness. Looking at it directly you will be deceived by its appearance. The fish really look fresh outside but if you happen to buy a kilo of fish without inspecting it correctly, you will notice that the fish you bought is already rotten inside. Even if you asked the seller if it is fresh or not, seller will tell you that it is really a fresh one. Seller doesn't care if you bought the rotten fish for as long as you are deceive in buying it.

This problem of deceiving is common in fish market, fruit stand and vegetable section. Due to less demand from consumers prompted them to use the chemicals to lengthen the life of the fish for several days. This are the kind of of seller who disregard the safety of consumer in their product. What they have in mind is to have profits in selling the item in excess to its natural perishable life.

I asked one seller I know, and told me that if she will not use this trick to buyers the losses is great. She can't recover his losses as the fish she sold was bought from other sources, from fish cars owned by businessmen who have a fishing vessels. Take note that the fish they caught is already several weeks in the refrigerated facilities in the vessel. To add another several days in selling time in the market, then you can guise the fish is already a month old until its disposal. How can we be assure the safety of taking it in our meals, the quality of its texture, the taste when cooked and the effect of it to our health.

Overuse of the chemicals can affect us. Many consumers believed that it can cause damage to portion of our intestinal organ and other system vulnerable to the chemicals inside our body. The same thing happened when we drink chlorinated water at all times. They may not be visible for now but the result for its long term use has risk to us even without knowing it.

I asked her if there are other better alternatives to use another kind of preservatives who are effective and safe. She said that this is the only alternative they found very effective. In addition to it, they used ice granules to refrigerate it at night. So the routine is this. The fish is placed in the ice box filled with ice before selling it. If there are quantities left unsold in the afternoon, they have to use another ice granules to freeze aside from the use of chemicals during the duration of their selling time.

This example is also used in the meat section. The quality of the meat is different from the fresh meat we know and sold in the market. The color is yellowish and dry. The odor can be noticed but the seller continue selling it even if it is no longer good for our health.

The only solution for this seller is to report them to the Department of Health for sanitary violations so that they can be fined in substatial amount. The consumer is also task to check and observe strictly any violation in the market rather than just looking without helping to be a watchdog. We should change our attitude. We have to help control this seller so that we can assure that the fish and meat we are buying is truly a fresh one. It is now time for us to make our move. We should prevent them in abusing the use of preservatives. We don't allow them to abuse us. Our health is at stake here.