Over the past two weeks officials of the Food and Drugs Administration have been active across markets in the State and have seized fruits that were allegedly being artificially ripened. High-value seizures were made at the Mapusa market sub-yard where tons of mangoes and bananas were allegedly artificially ripened and were being readied for sale. The news of these raids and subsequent destruction may seem like good work is being done by the officials of the FDA, but in fact, it raises more questions than it answers.
Artificially ripening fruits using chemicals like calcium carbide and acetylene is banned by the FSSAI, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, because it could lead to the poisoning of fruits with arsenic and phosphorus. On the other hand, the use of ethylene gas, a chemical naturally produced by the fruit during the ripening process is permitted, subject to certain guidelines. Ethylene is considered safe provided the guidelines are followed.
It is no secret that fruits sold in the markets across Goa, especially bananas and now mangoes are artificially ripened and then sold. The question that the FDA officials have failed to answer is why their raids are conducted only in fits and starts and are not regularly to ensure that local buyers and consumers receive chemical-free fruits all year round. Secondly, the FDA is yet to clarify whether the fruit stocks that they have indiscriminately destroyed are ripened using banned chemicals or legally permitted chemicals. And if it is confirmed to be ripened using banned chemicals which are those banned chemicals that were used in ripening the fruit.
Take for example the recent case where two tonnes of bananas were destroyed by officials of the FDA for allegedly being ripened using the chemical Ethephon. Ethephon is not a chemical that has been banned by the FSSAI and in fact, it is approved for use in a regulated manner as a safe alternative to calcium carbide. It is possible that the manner in which the concerned trader was using Ethephon was not in a manner that was permitted, but the FDA’s statement, which was shorn of details, does not make that clear.
In States like Telangana, the use of Ethephon is actually encouraged as a method to discourage traders from using calcium carbide. Will the FDA officials explain their crackdown on permitted chemicals or are they only concerned with indiscriminately destroying whatever they can set their sights on to ensure they are seen to be acting against alleged violators at the cost of fairness to traders?
It wasn’t all that long ago when FDA officials made a fool of themselves besides sparking panic when they alleged a consignment of fish had tested positive for formalin on spot testing kits only to release the consignment later allegedly under political pressure, saying the spot testing kits had detected a false positive.
What is the true story behind the artificially ripened fruit seizures? No one knows. The least the FDA needs to do is to be more transparent in its efforts and more importantly demonstrate that it is being fair to the traders and acting in the public interest. Arbitrary and irregular action does not inspire confidence.
