Artificial ripening of fruits, veggies puts lives of consumers at risk

Jammu, October 13

The failure of the Drug and Food Control Organisation (DFCO) and other civic agencies to rein in vendors using banned chemicals for artificial ripening of vegetables and fruits as it continues to put lives of consumers at risk.

Although the government has banned the use of carbide or acetylene gas, lack of monitoring by the enforcement agencies and poor awareness among public, is encouraging traders to use chemicals.

There is also a lack of coordination between the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) and the DFCO hindering any enforcement. Recently, the Commissionerate of the Food and Drug Administration issued a ‘warning notice’ directing food business operators dealing with storage, packaging, distributors, sale of fruits and vegetables for using chemicals, but activists say mere warning is not enough. “The use of chemicals is directly linked to cancer and other diseases but only advertisements will not bring any change. There is need to check its inflow and impose stringent measures”, said Bushan Parimoo, president, Environment Awareness Forum (EAF). It is important to note here that the use of carbide gas or acetylene is not permitted for artificial ripening under the Food Safety and Standards Regulation-2011.

A senior DFCO official said, “We are doing regular inspections of markets”. — TNS