With summer time proper across the nook, Indians are awaiting their favorite seasonal fruit – mangoes! While mango reigns because the king of fruits in India, there aren’t any stones unturned that sellers, meals enterprise operators and meals handlers go away to maximise their revenue margins. 

Due to the rising circumstances of well being considerations, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) just lately issued a warning to meals enterprise operators, handlers, distributors towards resorting to unlawful and unethical practices to hasten the ripening means of mangoes. 

The warning comes within the wake of stories of widespread use of a harmful chemical named Calcium Carbide within the ripening of mangoes, which poses a critical menace to public well being.

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How mangoes are artificially ripened

Calcium carbide is a chemical compound that’s generally utilized in industries equivalent to mining and metalworking. It can be used within the manufacturing of acetylene fuel, which is utilized in welding and slicing functions. Calcium carbide is a extremely reactive compound and releases acetylene fuel when it comes into contact with water.

In latest years, calcium carbide has turn out to be a well-liked technique for artificially ripening fruits equivalent to mangoes. The chemical is added to the fruit throughout transportation, and the acetylene fuel it releases is meant to hurry up the ripening process. However, using calcium carbide for ripening mangoes is very harmful and may have critical well being penalties.

Artificially ripening is prohibited and harmful 

The FSSAI has warned that using calcium carbide for ripening mangoes is prohibited beneath the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. The Act prohibits using any substance that’s dangerous to human well being within the manufacturing, processing or therapy of meals. Calcium carbide is a extremely poisonous substance that may trigger a spread of well being issues, together with pores and skin irritation, respiratory issues and even most cancers. 

The FSSAI has additionally warned that using calcium carbide for ripening mangoes can result in the formation of harmful chemical compounds equivalent to arsenic and phosphorus. These chemical compounds can accumulate within the physique and trigger long-term well being issues.

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Despite repeated warnings, using calcium carbide for ripening mangoes continues to be a widespread follow in India. This is basically as a result of the truth that it’s a low-cost and simple technique of ripening the fruit, and it permits farmers and merchants to promote their produce at the next worth. However, using calcium carbide is a short-sighted and harmful follow that places public well being in danger.

What are the secure options?

There are a number of options to using calcium carbide for ripening mangoes which can be each secure and efficient. One such technique is using ethylene fuel, which is a pure plant hormone that’s produced by fruits as they ripen. Ethylene fuel can be utilized to hurry up the ripening means of mangoes, with out posing any threat to human well being.

Another various is using ripening chambers, that are specifically designed rooms that simulate the pure ripening means of fruit. These chambers use a mix of temperature, humidity and ethylene fuel to ripen the fruit naturally, with out using dangerous chemical compounds. Depending on the crop, kind and maturity, FSSAI has recognised ethylene as a secure ripening agent at concentrations as much as 100 ppm (100µl/L) from sources like ethephon, ethereal, and so on. 

The use of those options not solely ensures that mangoes are ripened safely and naturally, but additionally helps protect the standard and style of the fruit. This is vital for each farmers and shoppers, because it ensures that mangoes stay a high-quality and wholesome fruit for shoppers whereas nonetheless incomes income for the farmers.

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Stay vigilant, eat wholesome mangoes

In addition to using secure and pure strategies for ripening mangoes, there may be additionally a necessity for stricter enforcement of meals security rules in India. The use of calcium carbide for ripening mangoes is only one instance of the numerous meals questions of safety which can be prevalent within the nation. To be sure that the meals we eat is secure and wholesome, it can be crucial that meals security rules are enforced rigorously, and that those that violate these rules are held accountable.

The FSSAI has taken an vital step in warning meals companies towards using calcium carbide for ripening mangoes. However, extra must be completed to make sure that this harmful follow is eradicated fully. This would require a mix of stricter enforcement of meals security rules, larger public consciousness of the hazards of calcium carbide, and the promotion of secure strategies for ripening, storing and dealing with fruits. 

Citizens should additionally proactively report circumstances of malpractices to the meals authority to place an finish to the well being points such practices trigger. To assist the state of affairs additional, meals enterprise operators, meals handlers and distributors should be sensitised to the in poor health results their malpractices have on public well being. This would help them in conducting worthwhile companies with a morally appropriate strategy of protecting public well being and security in thoughts.

About the writer: Ashwin Bhadri is the Founder and CEO of Equinox Labs. All views/opinions expressed within the article are of the writer.