Source:http://www.thehindu.com
In spite of being a major health hazard, Food Safety
authorities admit it is a difficult proposition stopping
chemically-ripened mangoes from flooding the markets of the State.
The
best option for consumers is to identify such mangoes and avoid them in
the larger interests of health. Apart from causing a wide range of
health problems, such mangoes are also carcinogenic because they are
artificially ripened through treatment with calcium carbide (CaC2). But
when these mangoes reach the markets they are washed clean of all CaC2
traces. With the existing facilities of the State Food Safety
Commission, no traces of CaC2 will be revealed if these mangoes are
subjected to any chemical analyses.
In such a
situation, seizure or action against sale of mangoes ripened by CaC2
treatment will get branded as bureaucratic harassment, said the State
Food Safety Commissioner Biju Prabhakar. And for that matter, fruit
vendors and traders of the State are well organised and capable of
countering and crying foul if chemical analyses of any seized lot fail
to prove the presence of CaC2, said Mr. Prabhakar Talking to
The Hindu
he, however, said that the Food Safety authorities will not stand mute spectators to the situation
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