Food safety raid at Fancy Bazar, 1 quintal of carbide-laden fruits destroyed

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaMay 23, 2024

In a surprise raid, the food and safety department of Kamrup Metro district destroyed more than 1 quintal of artificially ripened mangoes from Fancy Bazar fruit market in the city on Wednesday.

The officials of the food safety department conducted the raid collected samples of mangoes and sent them for lab tests.

“Further action will be initiated based on the lab report,” said an official of the department.

“In every cartoon box of mango, we found packets of calcium carbide We seized and threw them in the garbage dumps,” the official said.

“Calcium carbide helps a raw fruit to get ripened in 24 hours. Consumption of these chemically treated fruits can affect the liver and stomach. It is very dangerous,” the official also said.

According to regulation 2.3.5 of Food Safety and Standard (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulations, 2011: “No person shall sell or offer or expose for sale or have in his premises for sale under any description, fruits which have been artificially ripened by use of acetylene gas, commonly known as carbide gas.”

On February 23, 2021, the Gauhati High Court directed the Central government to frame rules to regulate the open availability of calcium carbide, a chemical used to artificially ripen fruits sold in the market.

Acting on a PIL filed by lawyer Bhaskar Baruah, the High Court also asked the Assam government to monitor and strictly prohibit the use of calcium carbide in ripening fruits.

However, due to the COVID regime, the order of the Gauhati High Court was not implemented by the government even as the state health and family welfare department drafted an SOP to regulate the use of calcium carbide in the state.

In his petition, Baruah sought the court’s intervention in raising concern about the artificial ripening of fruits like bananas, papaya and mango by using calcium carbide illegally.

Baruah said in his petition that excessive use of calcium had an ill effect on people’s health with reports suggesting that the same chemical was causing diseases like cancer.

The petitioner demanded strict enforcement of the law by the Central and the state government under the Food Safety Act, 2006 and the framing of appropriate guidelines or policy to enforce strict prohibition or ban on the loose sale of calcium carbide in the open markets of Guwahati and rest of the state.

The petitioner further said that due to the unabated use of calcium carbide in fruits, various chronic diseases like abdominal problems, skin diseases, cancer etc. have been growing in society. The easy availability of calcium carbide, a highly toxic and highly  inflammable substance in the open market of Assam, in an unregulated manner has worsened the situation, said Baruah in his PIL.

The High Court, in its order, referred to a judgment of the Telangana High Court in 2015 in which it sought steps to check the use of calcium carbide by unauthorised persons. It said the use of calcium carbide is permissible for industrial use only and should not be allowed for other purposes.

The Gauhati High Court in its order said, “We require the Central government to frame appropriate rules for regulating the open availability of calcium carbide in the market and for the purpose, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Ministry of petroleum and natural gas may coordinate amongst themselves for achieving the purpose of framing the required rules.”

“The principal secretary to the government of Assam in the health and family welfare department is also directed to monitor the activities of senior food inspectors towards their requirement for complying with the order,” the court added.