Mangoes’ ripening: Raids on, but calcium carbide still used in Maharashtra
Unscrupulous traders continue to use calcium carbide
to ripen fruits such as mangoes and apples despite the fact that the
carcinogenic chemical was banned under the Food Safety and Standards Act
(FSSA), 2006 and Regulations (FSSR), 2011.
The Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) Maharashtra, the state food regulator, took strict
action against the mango traders in the past by seizing and destroying
over 100 kg of mangoes, which were ripened using calcium carbide. But
now it is difficult to tour the state and raid the premises of every
fruit trader who allegedly uses the chemical.
Therefore, the
practice is still rampant in many parts of the state, because the
traders no longer fear being noticed by the authorities. Besides mangoes
(the state's favourite summer fruit), calcium carbide is used to ripen
such vitamin-rich fruit as papaya, bananas and watermelon.
On the
condition of anonymity, a top food official from FDA Maharashtra
informed FnB News that they had issued a circular to all the food safety
officers (FSOs) across the state, instructing them to roll up their
sleeves and make sure no amount of artificially-ripened mangoes make
their way to markets across the state this year.
Navi Mumbai
It
has been learnt that traders at the Agriculture Produce Market
Committee (APMC) in Vashi, Navi Mumbai, are still using calcium carbide
to ripen mangoes. The fruit, which has been ripened artificially,
arrives in the wholesale market earlier than that ones ripened
naturally.
The weather plays a key role in the yield, and
according to Sanjay Pansare, director, fruit market, APMC, this year's
crop was good because the weather was good. He said, “APMC, Vashi
receives around 55,000 boxes of mangoes every day. Each box contains
between four and eight dozen mangoes, depending on the quality.”
Mangoes
are normally priced at Rs 1,000 per dozen during the season, but the
early arrivals are priced between Rs 100 and Rs 400 at the APMC market.
These prices tempt many to buy the artificially-ripened fruit. Unaware
of the method used to ripen the fruit, they consume them and become
susceptible to a number of ailments.
The Thane division of FDA
Maharashtra recently raided APMC, Vashi, to check the use of calcium
carbide, which hastens the ripening of mangoes unnaturally. The FDA
officials said that they did not have any evidence to prove the
allegation that the traders use the banned chemical on the market
premises.
The traders at the APMC fruit market, on their part,
claimed that calcium carbide is no longer used on its premises, adding
that all the mangoes sold there have ripened naturally. However, the
reality is different. The stench emanating from the fruit lingers in the
air, putting visitors off.
On a recent visit to APMC, FnB News
discovered that despite the ban on calcium carbide and the action the
authorities are taking against the traders, workers hailing from states
like West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand make small pouches of the banned
chemical and put these inside the boxes containing the fruit.
Sohail
Shah, a fruit agent at APMC, informed, “The excess mango supply and the
slowdown in prices have been worrying traders a lot. Traders fear that
the fruit may get spoilt if not sold on time. That is why they have been
adopting unfair means to ripen the fruit and sell it in the market.”
Aalam
Khan, who hails from Bihar's Madhubani district and is a worker at the
APMC market, said, “We secretly use calcium carbide after the official
raids, not in the front of market.” But a trader, on the condition of
anonymity, informed, “Calcium carbide has been used to ripen the fruit
for years, and the process will continue forever.”
However,
Pansare refuted the allegation and blamed the media for maligning the
market. He added, “The practice of using calcium carbide stopped long
ago. Not even a single fruit trader in the APMC market uses calcium
carbide. They only use ethylene as a catalyst to ripen the fruit
nowadays. The use of this gas is permitted.”
Dr Jayashree Sharad,
managing director, Skinfiniti, said, “The excessive use of calcium
carbide to ripen fruit can cause cancer in the long run. The mangoes
normally ripen at the end of April, therefore all mangoes which are
available before Gudi Padwa in the market are ripened through acetylene
gas produced from calcium carbide.”
“Mangoes cannot be ripened
in just 12 hours. Only the skin of the fruit turns yellow when acetylene
gas is used as the catalyst to ripen it, but it doesn't ripen.
Industrial-grade calcium carbide contains traces of arsenic and
phosphorous, which are harmful to the body. It damages the skin,
kidneys, heart and liver, and causes ulcer and gastric problems,” Sharad
said.
Nashik
At a recent meeting, the Nashik division
of FDA Maharashtra created awareness among mango traders about the
adverse impact calcium carbide could have on the health of the
consumers, and warned them that strict action would be taken against
them if they did not stop using the chemical.
Chandrakant Pawar,
joint food commissioner of the state food regulator's Nashik division,
said, “At the meeting, we explained to them about the ill-effects of
using calcium carbide to ripen the fruit. It was also suggested that the
traders adopt the safer methods of ripening fruits – using ethylene gas
or keeping the fruit in a box containing hay.”
“But if the use
of calcium carbide is still in vogue, nothing can be done with the
shortage of manpower,” he said. A fruit trader from Nashik, on the
condition of anonymity, said, “One kg of calcium carbide costs only Rs
80, and it can ripen one tonne of mangoes overnight. Thus without
thinking about the ill-effect of it on consumers, we take the
opportunity to cash on it.”
