Police book fruit vendors for using chemicals

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad city police busted fruit vendors in various areas of the city for ripening fruits using chemicals, apprehended seven persons and seized a large number of mangoes.

The Hyderabad Commissioner's Task Force, on credible information, conducted raids along with GMHC’s Food Safety officials and area police officials on various fruit warehouses and stalls in the city.

They seized large quantities of ripened carbide and ethylene, which are used to artificially ripen mangoes.

The arrested persons were E Rameshwar (60) in Habeeb Nagar police station limits with 65 trays of noxious mangoes of 1,300 kg along with carbide powder sachets, 90 sachets of gold ripener ethylene, and 30 sachets of carbide powder, totaling Rs 4.55 lakh.

Irfan Khan (35) and Mohd Hussain (47) were apprehended within Sultan Bazar limits. Hussain was arrested with 26 trays of mangoes along with sachets of ethylene ripener, totaling Rs 3 lakh. Syed Zahoor (36) was arrested in Afzalgunj limits with 93 trays of ripened mangoes weighing 1,860 kg with 2,100 sachets of gold-ripened ethylene ripener, all worth Rs 4.10 lakh.

Syed Mastaan (34) was held in Chaderghat limits with 15 boxes of mangoes of 300 kg with 6,600 gms of gold-ripe ethylene ripener, totaling Rs 96,000. Syed Aslam (32) and Syed Sadullah (32) were apprehended within Bhavani Nagar limits. Sadullah was arrested with 520 kg of manages along with 11 sachets of ethylene ripeners.

According to the police, the teams raided warehouses and various stalls in Hyderabad that were selling and supplying artificially ripened mangoes. They used to supply the fruits to different fruit shops and juice centres in the city. With heavy demand for fruits enlightening the current holy month of Ramzan and marriage season, they are using artificial ripeness like ethylene and calcium carbide/ calcium acetylide to bring unripe fruits, especially mangoes, into the market by breaching the FSSAI guidelines.

The police stated that the accused were using illegal methods of storage and ripening mangoes, which pose serious health risks to the public.

These methods can lead to respiratory and skin ailments. Excessive use of these chemicals can result in severe health issues, including skin burns, irritation, inflammation, and lung irritation if inhaled. Moreover, arsenic present in mangoes due to these methods can cause heavy metal poisoning and other neurological diseases.