By Juliet Jacob Ochenje
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned the public over the health risks associated with ripening fruits with carbide.
African Health Report (AHR) had earlier reported how fruits and other foodstuff sellers use carbide to ripen their produce on time and to use it attractive to customers.
Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday during the flag-off of the NAFDAC media sensitisation workshop on dangers of ripening of fruits with calcium carbide, the Director-General (DG) of NAFDAC, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, warned that ripening fruits with carbide causes damage to the lungs, liver and other organs in the body.
She states: “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.
“You can identify such artificially ripened fruits if you notice that the fruits are all yellow whereas the stem is dark, this is true especially with banana and plantain. In addition, naturally ripened fruits usually have brown or black spots, while those artificially ripened have traces of powdery substances and peel off quickly.”
“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.
“Acetylene produced by calcium carbide affects the neurological system and reduces oxygen supply to the brain and further induces prolonged hypoxia.
“The impurities are hazardous to pregnant women and children and may lead to headache, dizziness, mood disturbances, mental confusion, memory loss, cerebral oedema swelling in the brain caused by excessive fluids, sleepiness, seizure etc.”
“Calcium Carbide is alkaline in nature and erodes the mucosal tissue in the abdominal region and disrupts intestinal functions.
Consuming such artificially ripened fruits could result in sleeping disorders, mouth ulcers, skin rashes, kidney problems and possibly even cancer.
Other symptoms of poisoning include diarrhoea with or without blood, burning or tingling sensation in abdomen and chest difficulty in swallowing, irritation in eyes/skin, sore throat, cough, shortness in breathing and numbness.
