Nagpur: In a major overhaul, the Food Drug Administration (FDA) officials raided several mango shops , siezed and destroyed mangoes which were injected with the Calcium carbide at the market yard of Kalamna.
The raid was conducted at the Agriculture Produce Market Commodity (APMC) Kalamna market, where mangoes collectively weighing 5,516 kilograms were seized from different shops. The total value of mangoes is estimated at Rs 1.70 Lakh. The operation was carried under the supervision of FDA Joint Commissioner Shashikant Kekre and executed by Assistant Commissioners Milind Deshpande and Motiram Pawar. A team of food safety officials Manoj Tiwari and Akhilesh Raut raided the shop of Raju Kataria and found 240 kgs mangoes which were tested positive for carbide.
Later, Food safety officials Vinod Dhavad raided the shop of Mohammad Irfan Rais at the same location and found 2,998 kgs of mangoes positive with carbide and immediately confiscated the mangoes worth Rs 1.20 lakh.
Food safety officer Pravin Umap and FDA officer from Bhandara along with officials Bhaskar Nandanwar and other joint teams conducted a raid at office of one Jitendra Mankar at the market yard and seized mangoes weighing 2,278 kgs worth Rs 45,560. Then FDA officials raided the shops of Mohammad Isaq Haji, Mohd Javed and Shraddha Fruit Traders and seized and destroyed mangoes worth lakhs. The team officials were Kiran Gedam, Sheetal Deshpande and Anand Mahajan.
Calcium carbide is also used in some countries for artificially ripening fruit. When calcium carbide comes in contact with moisture, it produces acetylene gas, which is quite similar in reaction to the natural ripening agent ethylene.
Acetylene acts like ethylene and accelerates the ripening process.
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