The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has warned members of the public against consumption of fruits artificially ripened with calcium carbide.
The agency also expressed concerns over illegal hawking of
drugs in the open markets across the country, reiterating its determination to
rid Nigeria of the menace of substandard and falsified medicines, unwholesome
foods, corrosive cosmetics, and other substandard regulated products.
NAFDAC said it had noticed the dangerous practice of sale
and consumption of fruits artificially ripened with calcium carbide, describing
it dangerous to human health.
Ripening is a unique aspect of plant development, which
makes the fruit edible, softer, sweeter, more palatable, nutritious, and
attractive.
Delivering a keynote address at the flag-off of NAFDAC Media
Sensitization Workshop on Dangers of Drug Hawking and Ripening of Fruits with
Calcium Carbide in Abuja yesterday,Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Moji
Adeyeye, regretted the nefarious activities by certain unpatriotic and
unscrupulous citizens in the country.
She told Nigerians to desist from patronizing fruits ripened
with calcium carbide to avoid endangering their health.
“Fruits provide the body with micronutrients that improve
immunity and prevent diseases among other benefits. Fruit ripening is a unique
aspect of plant development, which makes the fruit edible, softer, sweeter,
more palatable, nutritious, and attractive.
“However, the consumption of fruits such as mango, banana,
plantain, guava, orange, grape, etc or any other fruits ripened with calcium
carbide is dangerous to health,” she said.
While noting that ripening of fruits with carbides was
another public challenge facing Nigeria at present, the NAFDAC boss said the
agency had deployed a multifaceted approach to tackle the menace.
She listed the effect of artificial ripening on fruit
quality to include but not limited to “considerable loss of properties such as
colour, taste and feel, and such practice does not give the natural aroma and
flavour to the fruits.
“These fruits do not possess uniform colour and are less
juicy than when ripened naturally and have comparatively shorter shelf life.
Calcium Carbide when sprayed with water reacts chemically to produce acetylene,
which acts like ethylene and ripens fruits by a similar process.
”Calcium carbide generally contains impurities such as
arsenic, lead particles, phosphorus, etc., that pose several very serious
health hazards.
“Consumption of fruits containing these impurities may cause
cancer, heart, kidney and liver failure. They may also cause frequent thirst,
irritation in mouth and nose, weakness, permanent skin damage, difficulty in
swallowing, vomiting, skin ulcer and so forth. Higher exposure may cause
undesired fluid build-up in lungs (pulmonary oedema).”
nature and erodes the mucosal tissue in the abdominal region
and disrupts intestinal functions.