Over 23,000 kg mangoes went to dumping yard last month

SUMMARY

The use of Calcium Carbide has become rampant with traders wishing to ripe mangoes within 48 hours instead of waiting for a week or so

Traders mixing Calcium Carbide in the king of fruits — Mangoes — have become a reason to give fans of this seasonal fruit a pang of pain. In the past month (that is April 1-May 4), the state Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had to destroy a whopping 23, 678 kg of mangoes worth Rs 11.85 lakh after it found godowns full of mango boxes containing Calcium Carbide packets stacked against the fruit.

Kamlesh Sankhe, joint commissioner of food at FDA, said, “Food safety officers have permission to destroy such fruits as soon as they find that artificial ripening agents have been used. We made thorough inspections in all godowns before seizing them. These mangoes are then emptied in a dumping ground and crushed so that they cannot be accidentally consumed.”

Sankhe said permission from the local municipal corporation has to be sought before destroying the mangoes in the dumping ground. “In Mumbai, we first took permission from BMC and then used the dumping grounds to crush all the mangoes,” he said. A truck is used to squash all the mangoes under the wheels later.

As per data gathered from the FDA, 40 varieties of mangoes were scrutinised for traces of this chemical across the state. Maximum seizures were done from Pune and Akola where around 9,000 kg of mangoes belonging to nine different varieties were found with Calcium Carbide, also known as ‘masala’. In Aurangabad, Thane and Mumbai too, large consignments of mangoes were destroyed.

The use of Calcium Carbide has become rampant with traders wishing to ripe mangoes within 48 hours instead of waiting for a week or so.

Dissolved in water, this chemical produces acetylene gas that acts as an artificial ripening agent. Mahesh Zagade, FDA commissioner, said, “Calcium Carbide does not actually ripen the mangoes. It just changes the colour to a uniform yellow and lends an appealing look to the buyer.”

Acetylene is believed to affect the nervous system by reducing oxygen supply to the brain. Sankhe said it can cause memory loss, mouth ulcer and even cancer if consumed in large quantities.

Zagade recently held meetings with various traders in the state and urged them to avoid the use of the chemical under the Food Safety and Standards Acts, 2006