Officials seize 720kg of chemically ripened mangoes

Fruits worth Rs. 40,000 destroyed

The District Food Safety Wing of the Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department has seized 720 kg of chemically ripened mangoes from a godown here on Tuesday.

A team of food safety officials, led by Dr. M. J. C. Bose, District Designated Officer, made a surprise inspection at the godown and found that the mango merchant had used calcium carbide to speed up ripening of mangos.

Dr. Bose said the merchant, who procured the mangos in the pre-ripening stage from Madurai had stocked them in the godown. The officials seized the mangoes, worth about Rs. . 40,000 and destroyed them in the compost yard.

Dr. Bose said mangoes ripened with calcium carbide pose serious health hazards and consumers could easily identify chemically ripened mangoes. These mangoes would be abnormal in size and would have black spots on the skin. The skin would look fully ripened but the pulp inside would be white, he said.

Consumption of artificially-ripened fruits would cause ulcer, insomnia and lack of appetite and even cancer, he warned.

Notice served

The merchant had been served with warning notice, he added.

Natural ripening was possible if the mangoes were stored along with bananas and papaya, he added.