China-made mango ripener being used in UP; health experts raise an alarm

Muzaffarnagar: Even as most of the fruit lovers wait for the summer season to relish mangoes, the fresh crop of king of fruits has arrived in the state with some serious health concerns. China-made ethylene mango ripener – which ripens the fruit overnight after a sachet of the powder is kept inside a carton of mangoes – is being used openly in the mango farms here. While the food authorities have conducted raids and seized some of these sachets which has been sent for tests, the powder continues to be used at many mango farms in Uttar Pradesh. Meanwhile, health experts have raised an alarm, saying that mangoes ripened with ethylene powder may damage liver and kidney of those who consume them regularly. Doctors have said kids are especially at greater risk in cases where the sachets have been used in excess.

A farmer working at a mango orchard in Muzaffarnagar explained, “It is a chemical made in China – which is available in small sachets. We use four sachets for 20-25 kg of mangoes and it takes hardly four days to ripen them after the sachets are put in a carton full of mangoes.”

Sources say that ethylene mango ripener can be purchased from the market, where it is easily available at the price of Rs 2.5 per sachet.

The Food Safety and Drugs Authority (FSDA) officials have taken its samples from across the state and sent it for tests. “We have taken samples of the Chinese ethylene ripener from across the state after we got a tip-off that it is being used to ripen mangoes in UP. We conducted raids too,” said Vineet Kumar, designated officer, FSDA, Muzaffarnagar.

“We are waiting for the lab report before taking further action,” he said.

Meanwhile, Muzaffarnagar chief medical officer Dr PS Mishra said, “The mangoes ripened with ethylene powder are harmful for health and can infect various organs – especially among children. It can cause damage to liver and kidney and a drive to curb the usage of ethylene powder is on.”

It should be noted that ethylene gas chambers are often used to ripen fruits, but there no clarity as of yet on the safety of ethylene sachets. Earlier, cases of ethylene sachets being used have come up in Coimbatore, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh – and even raids were conducted, but clarity about the usage of these sachets in contrast with usage of the gas (which is permitted by FSSAI) is still not there.