CHENNAI: Food safety and drug administration officials on Tuesday seized and destroyed 4.5 tonnes of mangoes artificially ripened using ethylene sachets from Ashok Nagar and Koyambedu.
In a raid carried along 11th Avenue in Ashok Nagar, a fruit vendor was found using ethylene sachets to ripen mangoes. “530kg of mangoes were seized ,” said an official.
The team of officials then went to the Koyambedu wholesale fruit market and raided 20 vendors, three of whom were found using ethylene powder to ripen mangoes. Sachets were dropped inside cartons in direct contact with the mangoes. “We seized nearly 4,000kg of mangoes that were then destroyed at the Koyambedu biomethanation plant,” said an official. The vendors were issued notices under section 50 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, he said.
Ethylene is used to ripen fruits such as mangoes inside chambers, but at controlled levels. Use of ethylene sachets in direct contact with mangoes, however, is dissuaded as quantity of the gas released cannot be regulated and fruits ripen within a day against the minimum 36 hours taken in a special chamber.
Consumers can identify artificially ripened fruits by the non-uniform colour. Health experts say artificially ripened fruits should be avoided as they can cause gastric trouble, stomach ulcers, and even cancer.
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