Bengaluru: Do you love fruits, especially the seasonal ones like Mango? Have the doctors advised you to intake more fruits in your daily diet? Well! Be careful while eating the fruits sold in Bengaluru city.
Majority of the city vendors are now using a magical Chinese powder to ripen fruits supplied to them by the middlemen which can endanger your health.
This magic powder supplied in huge quantity to the city is Ethylene Ripener which is produced and patented by a Chinene firm. According to the vegetable vendors, a kilogram of this powder is available for just Rs 50 in the market.
“Everyone is saying it is not harmful. So I am using it to ripen all the fruits. But it is now used mostly to ripen the mangoes,’ says a mango vendor from Yeshwantpur. “Till last year carbide was used extensively for the mango ripening. But due to the repeated raids by the health department officials, this year we are not getting the carbide powder. Instead few vendors are supplying this Chinese powder,” he said.
Meanwhile, the health department officials are confused over the use of Ethylene Ripener on fruits. “As per the recent guidelines issued by the health ministry, Ethylene Ripener can be used for the fruits ripening in a controlled system. But fact is that in city it is being used excessively. We will discuss the issue with union health ministry”, informed an officer from the health department.
