No check on artificial ripening of fruits in city
Mohit Khanna
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 18
After conducting a raid at the fruit and vegetable market in Sector 26 last month, the Health Department has been going soft on people involved in artificial ripening of fruits. The use of calcium carbide is rampant in the fruit market.
Besides, the market is full of sachets of the Chinese ethylene powder. It is being sold as a legal fruit ripening agent. In common parlance, both products are known as “masala”. Sources said many small-time grocers were keeping calcium carbide with them. However, due to the fear of the department, the chemical was sold only to select fruit traders. However, it was easily available in the market and nearby Ram Darbar.
Prof JS Thakur from the School of Public Health, PGI, while sharing his experience, said: “Recently, I visited a vegetable market to buy fruits. I asked a vegetable seller whether he was using ‘masala’ on the fruits. He said all fruits in the market were being ripened by using ‘masala’. If the claim of the seller was true, it is a serious health hazard and the department should take a serious note of it.”
Sources said tonnes of mango, papaya and banana reached mandis across the country. As natural ripening of banana and other fruits takes time, traders use calcium carbide to meet the demand of buyers on time.
Ripened artificially with calcium carbide, fruits, including banana and papaya, pose health issues such as headache, dizziness, sleep disorders and even memory loss.
Despite knowing the health hazards and legal implication of using artificially ripened fruit, the fruit sellers are indulging in the menace.
“We sell what people demand. Customers ask for ripened fruits. Hence, as per demand, we are supplying products. If I will not sell the same then someone else will,” said a fruit seller in Sector 46 vegetable market.
Gurpreet Kaur, a housewife, while purchasing fruits said it was difficult to decipher between artificially or naturally ripened fruit. She said the department should create awareness among consumers to check the illegal practice.
Director, Health Services, Chandigarh, Dr G Dewan, said Sukhwinder Singh, designated officer-cum-licensing authority, Food Safety, was the right person to speak on the matter.
However, despite repeated attempts Sukhwinder was not available for comments.
Artificial sweeteners used in watermelon
Even watermelons being sold in markets nowadays are artificially ripened. Vendors offer bright red pieces of melons to attract consumers. Sources said sweetener and colour agents were used to make the fruit look attractive.
The crackdown
On April 12, a team of the Health Department had conducted a raid and seized artificially ripened bananas from the Sector 26 market. The department had destroyed 3.5 quintals of banana, mango and papaya.
Symptoms
Dizziness, stomach disorder/ infection, sleep and memory disorders.
Effects
Harmful for kidney and liver.
How to identify
Fruits ripened with calcium carbide are overly soft but are inferior in taste and flavour. They also have a shorter shelf life. The fruit ripened with calcium carbide may develop uniform attractive surface colour, but the tissue inside would not be ripe or may remain green or raw.
A health official said: “While buying bananas, one can spot dark patches. Such bananas could have come in touch with calcium carbide. Artificially ripened fruits lack consistency. An artificially ripened papaya and mango will remain raw on one side.”
How chemical works
When calcium carbide comes into contact with moisture, it produces acetylene gas, which is quite similar in its effect to the natural ripening agent, ethylene. Acetylene acts like ethylene and accelerates fruit ripening. Calcium carbide is rolled in a newspaper and kept in a box of bananas.
DM bans use of chemicals
Ajit Balaji Joshi, District Magistrate (DM), Chandigarh, while exercising powers under Section 133 of the CrPC, has prohibited the use of chemicals for artificial ripening of fruits as well as storing such fruits in the city. The DM has also ordered all SDMs of Chandigarh to conduct regular checking of storage spaces within their jurisdiction and also places used by wholesalers and retailers of fruits. If chemically adulterated fruits are found, the DM has asked them to destroy these immediately. TNS
