JAKARTA, 10 January 2006 - Indonesian authorities have, according to this story, raided street food stalls and restaurants after discovering that many were using formaldehyde as a preservative. Prime targets of police and Jakarta Food and Drug Office inspectors are food carts and roadside street restaurants - or warungs - which peddle tofu, noodles and salted fish to the capital's hungry millions.

Police have also raided major supermarkets, including several outlets of the giant French Carrefour chain. Jakarta Police chief General Firman Gani was quoted as saying, "We will arrest those who produce or sell formaldehyde-treated food." The story says that formaldehyde food myths pervade South-East Asian countries and that foreign tourists and expat workers routinely regale one another with tales of formaldehyde-laced beers from the Philippines to Thailand and Vietnam as well as Indonesia.

But Jakarta's authorities are the first to confirm the corpse-preserving chemical is widely used by food vendors, warning that even in low doses it could cause burning in the eyes, nose and throat, as well as coughing and nausea. In higher concentrations formaldehyde was capable of causing vomiting, kidney problems, coma and even death, doctors said.

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