Chennai: Fruits worth Rs 2.5 lakh ripened using chemicals, seized

CHENNAI: In a midnight operation that spanned nearly three hours, food safety officials seized fruits worth Rs 2.5 lakh, being ripened using chemicals at Koyambedu market in the wee hours of Sunday. 

In the wake of recent media reports on use of chemicals to ripen fruits at Koyambedu market, around 50 officials, including police and Market Management Committee officials, started the checks around 2 am.

After nearly three hours, officials seized 3.25 tonnes of sapota (chiku), one tonne of mango and 750 kg of banana. A total of 24 shops were found to be using chemicals to artificially ripen fruits and substances such as calcium carbide stones. Chemical sprayers were seized from the shops.

“We will file cases against the vendors in the coming days. Three of them have been identified,” said R Kathiravan, designated officer, Food Safety Department, Chennai.He said despite warnings and creation of awareness by the department on the harmful effects of chemicals on fruits, some continue the practice.

M Thiyagarajan, president, Koyambedu Kaai, Kani, Malar Vyabarigal Sangam, said the vendors resort to artificial ripening of fruits since it makes the fruits saleable quickly. “They do this because of the quick money it gives. We are always appealing to vendors to show concern over the health of consumers,” he said.Doctors have warned people to be cautious while consuming the fruits. 

The doctors said the impact of consuming artificially-ripened fruits varied from people to people. While to some it may cause diarrhoea, for others it may reach extreme forms leading to serious case of dehydration and loss of electrolytes.

Explaining the traditional methods to ripen the fruits, Thiyagarajan said though they took time, they never had a harmful impact on consumers. For mangoes, the fruits were stored in a hay room and left for three to four days. Bananas would be stored in a smoke-filled room. In this process, the bananas would take one or two days to become ripe. “Since these are tedious processes, vendors resort to chemicals to make quick money,” Thiyagarajan said.