Daijiworld Media Network - Kasargod (SP)
Kasargod, Mar 16: Government officials raided a house located in Paika area of Mulleria in the district on Wednesday March 15, and seized 80 boxes of mangoes. Allegedly, the mangoes, which were found packed in boxes weighing 20 kg each, had been ripened by using calcium carbide, a process which has been banned.
Acting on confidential information he gathered, assistant commissioner of food safety, K S Janardanan, and food safety officer of this circle, V K pradeep Kumar, led a team of officials to Mulleria and conducted the operation. The officials said that the mangoes so seized would be sent to the laboratory at Malaparambu in Kozhikkode for testing.
The officials said that the mangoes that are ripened with the help of the above chemical ripen faster and acquire enticing colour. These mangoes also retain their freshness for several days and do not get rotten immediately. During the investigation, Janardanan said, he came to know that this procedure has been followed to ripen the mangoes since the last many years.
The chemical is deadly and studies have shown that they can be fatal and cause cancer among human beings. Although use of this chemical is banned, it is general knowledge that it is being widely used to ripen various fruits across the country, as the departments concerned have failed to act against the guilty.