COIMBATORE: Health officials of the Coimbatore Corporation seized a tonne of mangoes that were allegedly ripened by using calcium carbide stones or powder.
The mangoes were seized from wholesale outlets in the city, Assistant City Health Officer R. Sumathi said.
Agitated by the surprise checks and refuting charges of artificial ripening, wholesale dealers threatened to stage a protest.
But, the health officials removed sachets of carbide stones kept among with the mangoes and dumped these into garbage trucks of the Corporation.
The mangoes were destroyed at the Corporation’s garbage yard at Vellalore, Dr. Sumathi said.
“We told the wholesale fruit dealers of the chronic poisoning they cause by using this chemical to ripen mangoes. They cannot think of only business,” she said. Listing the health hazards, the official said calcium carbide had carcinogenic properties.
Source: www.hindu.com
Publication date: 6/5/2009
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