Food safety officers in various parts of the district conducted raids in fruit stalls, especially mango stalls,, on Saturday. The crackdown, aimed at checking sale of artificially ripened mangoes and to ensure safety of consumers, was launched as per the directive of Collector M. Ravikumar.
In a bid to prevent mango vendors from using calcium carbide to artificially ripen mangoes quickly, they were exposed to natural and safe methods of ripening mangoes in this fruit season, District Designated Officer of Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), M. Jegadis Chandrabose, said. They were trained in using ethylene to ripen mangoes. Ethylene, which is secreted in mango trees, is used in liquid form on mangoes. Mangoes at a tender stage could be kept along with ripe papaya and banana, which had high ethylene content, for accelerating natural ripening, he said. Such method of ripening was permitted under the FSSA norms.
Exert caution
With mango season at its peak, mango enthusiasts should be cautious in consuming the fruit.
He said consumption of artificially-ripened mangoes would cause serious health problems, such as stomach ulcer, loss of appetite, insomnia and might even lead to cancer. The artificially-ripened mangoes would be bigger than normal and natural size. Though the skin would look ripened, the pulp of the mango would not taste sweet.
Moreover, black spots would be found in such mangoes and consumers would be able to feel the heat on touch of such fruits. Hence, the consumers need to be aware of these factors while taking their pick, he told The Hindu . “While it takes six hours to ripen mangoes quickly under the influence of calcium carbide, it requires forty eight hours to ripen mangoes by using ethylene solution,” Dr. Chandrabose said.
