The District Food Safety Wing of Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration department on Thursday launched a special drive against stocking and sale of chemically ripened mangoes and seized about 1.5 tonnes from five godowns.
Acting on the orders of Food Safety Commissioner (in-charge) Beela Rajesh and Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao and instructions of District Designated Officer Thanga Vignesh, a team of food safety officials (FSOs) from different regions raided the godowns and made the seizure.
The FSO team comprising M. Dharmar (Ramanathapuram), S. Muthusamy (Paramakudi), A. Karnan (Thondi), P. Veeramuthu (Nainarkoil) and M. Saravanakumar (Kadaladi) conducted the raids to create awareness among consumers and deter fruitsellers who stocked and sold chemically ripened mangoes.
The officials checked five godowns and seized 1.5 tonnes of the fruit, ripened either by spraying liquid ethipon chemical or calcium carbide stones. The seized mangoes, unfit for human consumption, would be destroyed. On learning about the raids, some of the fruit merchants closed the godowns and fled.
Officials said the FSOs would continue to conduct surprise raids throughout the district and warned fruit merchants against stocking and sale of chemically ripened mangoes, which posed serious health hazard.
The merchants procured and stocked the mangos in the pre ripening stage and used the chemicals for quick ripening. Such mangoes would be uniformly yellow and would not submerge in a bucket of water. The naturally ripened ones would have uneven green and yellow shades and submerge in water, they added.
