MAPUSA: The food and drugs administration (FDA) on Wednesday seized and destroyed about 12 tonnes of mangoes which were allegedly ripened artificially. Based on a tip-off, the FDA inspectors raided a godown at Sirsaim, and seized three varieties of mangoes - Pairi and Afonso - procured from Ratnagiri and Mancurad bought locally.
Rajeev Korde, senior food safety inspector, FDA, said vendor Sham Dhargalkar bought mangoes in bulk to sell them during the five-day Shirgao zatra that starts today.
Korde said they had to destroy the seized mangoes at Ganeshpuri, Mapusa, on Wednesday itself, as they had no place to store them. The chemical used to ripen the mangoes was Ethrel, which is harmful for human consumption. Korde said that while the chemical is used to encourage plant growth, it can't be applied after the crop is harvested.
The FDA team comprising Flavia D'Souza, Sudhakar Parsekar and Sudit Naik also seized chemical bottles- four empty and two full-used to ripen mangoes. Mangoes dipped in Ethrel ripens within 48 hours and any trader selling artificially matured fruit is set to gain as decay of the fruit is delayed. It doesn't turn soft or soggy like a natural mango foes two or three days later after maturity. Also, mangoes ripened artificially look attractive and have no creases," he said.
The FDA has registered an offence against Dhargalkar and further investigation is under way. Two years ago, in a major raid in Vasco, FDA had seized 25 tonnes of mangoes ripened artificially.
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