Loud Thinking April 24, 2014 at 09:49PM

Provincial governments beware : Mango ripening chemicals are cancer causing and injurious for human health..!

Dear all the heads of political parties and the CM’s of the provinces,

AoA.

Sir,

The following news published today, by the Times of India, reveals a very grave danger for human health in mango ripening, with extremely harmful cancer causing chemical, named calcium carbide.

Industrial-grade calcium carbide contains traces of arsenic and phosphorous which are harmful to the body. It damages the skin, kidneys, heart and liver and also causes ulcer and gastric problems.

As such, all high and mighty who are in power in the provinces of Pakistan, are earnestly requested to order an immediate and most severe crack down on this criminal activity of the unscrupulous mango traders in Pakistan, where ripening of mangoes using hazardous chemicals is rampant, as well.

TOI News

AHMEDABAD: In the last few days, the health department of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has seized large stocks of mangoes artificially ripened using cancer-causing calcium carbide. On Wednesday, the AMC team inspected the Kalupur fruit market and seized 989 kg of mangoes that had been artificially-ripened. The team also seized more than 40 kg of the deadly carbide from the market.

Mangoes normally ripen towards the end of April, said senior officials at APMC Vejalpur. Hence those which are available in the market before mangoes are due have been ripened using acetylene gas produced from calcium carbide, said a mango vendor in Drive-In area. “In fact, mangoes cannot be ripened in 12 hours with carbide pouches. It is the skin of the fruit that turns yellow when acetylene gas is released from the pouches,” the vendor said.

Industrial-grade calcium carbide contains traces of arsenic and phosphorous which are harmful to the body. It damages the skin, kidneys, heart and liver and also causes ulcer and gastric problems.

Bhavin Solanki, Medical Officer of Health (MOH), said for artificial ripening, raw mangoes are packed in cartons and one small packet of calcium carbide placed between each mango layer. “Some traders put packets of calcium carbide to provide maximum artificial heat to quickly ripen the fruits,” Solanki said. Carbide is used in welding and even a small quantity if consumed can cause serious health problems.

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Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad

Lahore.

Sent from my iPad3 4G LTE

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