Traders warned against ripening fruit artificially

Even as mango season sets in, fruit vendors have been put on notice by authorities against selling artificially ripened varieties. 

With mangoes started to arrive in markets in the city, officials of the Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department has asked traders not to use calcium carbide for artificially ripening mangoes.

District Designated Officer T. Anuradha, who conducted a meeting with traders and stockiest on Wednesday, said that mangoes should ripen naturally and use of calcium carbide for ripening is against the law as it causes health hazards.

The chemical is banned under the Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011, as it would cause diarrhoea, skin ulcers, peptic ulcer and irrigation in mouth for the consumers, she added.

Officials said that while natural ripening takes two to three days while artificial ripening takes less than 20 hours.

Officials said that naturally ripened mangoes would become yellow gradually and have good aroma while the ripened mangoes turn yellowish fully.

They asked the consumers to purchase mangoes and allow it to naturally ripen in their homes. During, the mango season, despite officials conducting raid in markets and godowns, ripening of mangoes artificially is carried out by traders for making quick money. Traders were warned against such practices.