Next time you visit any mango mart in the city stop drooling over glossy wrinkle-free mangoes as they may be the gateways to big C.  Calcium carbide – a chemical used flagrantly by mango traders to ripen the king of fruits is a potential carcinogen. Taking account of this, 26,000 kg of artificially ripened mangoes worth Rs 1.93 crore has been destroyed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the past one month.

The FDA found secret godowns on the highways and the outskirts of cities being used to ripen the mangoes using calcium carbide.

Ignorant of this, many farmers had urged Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar to halt the FDA crackdown. Pawar’s office is supposed to have spoken to the FDA.

The FDA informed that the mangoes were to be transported to Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Navi Mumbai, Akola and Aurangabad. Food safety officers sought municipal corporations nod before destroying them with compactors. 

“The use of calcium carbide to ripen fruits is a violation of the Food Safety and Standards Act. It is a known carcinogen and can have far-reaching health effects,” FDA commissioner Mahesh Zagade informed.

Food safety officers have been consistently trying to convince farmers and mango traders for three years against using this lethal ripening agent.  They are provided briefings about the hazards of artificially ripening mangoes, he said.

Calcium carbide is commonly used chemical agent to ripen mangoes. “The carbide gas that emanates from calcium carbide is used to ripen mangoes. It is a serious threat to health as it also contains traces of phosphorus and arsenic.

Carbide is actually used in welding works,” said joint commissioner S S Kale. He added that the trucks carrying mangoes are parked outside warehouses for two days, when the mangoes are sprayed and then sent to various places.

Zagade said the responsibility to identify naturally ripened fruits also lies on citizens. “Artificially ripened mangoes will not have wrinkles,” he said.