Contaminated ice spreads diarrhoea, typhoid, jaundice



Officials Fail To Keep Tabs On Manufacturers

Summer or winter, a drink with crushed ice could be anyone's temptation. But health experts caution that contaminated ice can cause not just a sore throat, but serious diseases like jaundice, typhoid and diarrhoea.

While there seems to be a spurt in such diseases in Chennai, the food safety and drug administration department is doing precious little, citing shortage of staff. Testing ice samples is probably the last thing on its agenda.

Officials who have visited ice manufacturing units say most of them have an unhygienic environment, and use untreated water from borewells or water tankers. Worse, ice blocks in several units are wrapped in dirty sacks and often handled by workers with bare hands.

A senior food safety official said they have not inspected ice manufacturing units in several months, if not years.And the reason is as scary as it is flippant. “We have not received any complaint of contaminated ice. There is no way to visually differentiate good ice from the bad. It is a Herculean task to inspect each roadside vendor to check the quali ty of ice,“ he said.

Most fresh fruit juice stalls in Chennai prefer cheaper commercial ice, sourced from fish vendors. These slabs of ice are made in unlicensed units that compromise on quality .Such ice may contain bacteria such as Escherichia coli and salmonella, besides chemicals like lead and arsenic.

Dr P Senthur Nambi, infectious diseases consultant at Apollo Hospitals, said contaminated ice, in fact, preserve disease-causing organisms. “Bacteria and viruses in frozen water remain active to harm the human body ,“ he said.

Chennai Fishing Harbour Ice Block Manufacturers Association secretary J Chandreshkaran said only a few elite clubs and hotels in the city buy ice made of remorse osmosis-treated water. A block of industrial ice costs `2 per kg at wholesale and `3 or `4 at retail. Ice from ROtreated water costs `6-7 per kg wholesale and the retail price can go up to `10-12 per kg,“ he said.

Corporation officials said they don't have any data on ice manufacturing units in the city. “The absence of quality standards and guidelines for manufacturing ice hampers monitoring,“ said an official.