14 teams formed to check the practice being adopted by some
vendors
DANGEROUS:Food Safety officials inspecting artificially
ripened mangoes at a godown attached to a fruit stall in Tuticorin on Tuesday.—
Photo: N. Rajesh
Seven
and a half tonnes of mangoes, artificially ripened with calcium carbide, were
found in a godown attached to a fruit stall opposite Tuticorin Corporation
Office on Palayamkottai Road and seized by Food Safety officials on Tuesday.
A
team of officials, led by District Designated Officer for Food Safety Dr. M.
Jegadis Chandra Bose, found the artificially ripened mangoes during a surprise
raid. The seized mangoes, which were unfit for consumption, were destroyed in a
compost yard at Tharuvaikulam.
The
harmful chemical substance was found concealed under heaps of mangoes.
Officials said consumption of artificially ripened mangoes would cause serious
health hazards such as stomach ulcer, loss of appetite, insomnia and even lead
to cancer. Black spots were found in almost all the seized fruits.
Dr.
Bose told The Hindu that 14 teams of Food Safety officials had been
formed to check the harmful practice being adopted by some vendors.
On
the directive of Collector M. Ravikumar and Commissioner of Food Safety Kumar
Jayant, the official teams would intensify raids on fruit stalls and godowns,
he added.
The
vendors in the district had already been exposed to a new and legitimate method
of ripening mangoes ahead of this fruit season. They were trained in using ethylene
to ripen mangoes. Ethylene, which was secreted from mango trees, was used in
liquid form and applied on mangoes. Mangoes at tender stage could be kept along
with ripe papaya and banana, which had high ethylene content, for natural
ripening.
“Since
mango is a perishable item, it would be difficult to despatch it to quality
testing laboratory for tests. Only when mangoes are found concealed along with
calcium carbide, they could seized and destroyed,” Dr. Bose noted.
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