• “Why traders use chemical to ripen fruits”
By Vivian Onyebukwa And Vera Wisdom-Bassey
Recently the Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mojisola Adeyeye, cautioned Nigerians against ripening fruits with calcium carbide.
According to her, the consumption of fruits ripened with calcium carbide may lead to different dangerous diseases such as cancer, heart failure, kidney failure, and liver failure.
She stated that calcium carbide generally contains impurities such as arsenic, lead particles, phosphorus, and others that pose several serious health hazards.
She also noted that fruits ripened with calcium carbide could cause frequent thirst, irritation in the mouth and nose, weakness, permanent skin damage, difficulty in swallowing, vomiting, and skin ulcers. She also stated that acetylene produced by calcium carbide would affect the neurological system, reduce oxygen supply to the brain, and further induce prolonged hypoxia.
Artificially ripened fruits, according to her, can be identified by their unnatural colour, particularly bananas and plantains, which may exhibit an unnatural uniform yellow colour with darker stems.
She pointed out that naturally ripened fruits tend to have brown or black spots, whereas artificially ripened fruits might show traces of powdery substances and peel off quickly. The artificial ripening of fruits quality would lead to the 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 a comparatively shorter shelf life,” she added.
The DG stated that since 2019, the agency has taken some decisive steps, such as sensitisation of the public through different media outlets, enforcement through intelligence, and raids in fruit markets that have resulted in seizures and destruction of violative products.
Why calcium carbide is used to ripen fruits, by traders
There has been growing concern among consumers following the knowledge of some of the inherent dangers in the use of calcium carbide to ripen fruits by the sellers in a bid to make quick sales and maximise profit without minding the health implications of the dangerous act.
When Saturday Sun visited some of the markets in Lagos and spoke with some of the fruit sellers on why they ripen fruits with carbide, none of them admitted that they were part of the perpetrators. They, however, provided an insight into the whole activities.
A fruits seller at a night market in Ikeja simply called Mama Nkeiru, acknowledged the rising reports of people resorting to artificial means to ripen plantains, mangoes, banana, and other fruits but she claimed that sellers in the market do not perpetrate such criminal acts.
“People that sell fruits to us from the villages were the ones that use chemical to ripen fruits, not us. We don’t. We learned that sometimes the mangoes are plucked and kept for about two to three days before they are moved to the market. So one cannot say emphatically what happens there. But here in the market, it does not happen. Most times when mangoes are brought to the market, they are already ripe, and the unripe ones are not many. So one cannot tell the process it goes through in the villages. But here, we do not tolerate such. Last year, we heard a report that Benue mangoes were being rejected and sent back from two Abuja markets over the issue, but we have not noticed it here in our market”.
Mama Nkeiru further stated that recently, the Iyaloja of the market warned the traders against such an act, saying it would not be tolerated in the market. “I am sure everyone took the advice. She sounded the warning following fears being expressed in other quarters over the development.”
Another fruit seller in Ikeja market called Iya Ibeji said carbide is used to ripen plantain because some people cannot wait for four to five days which it would take for the normal ripening process. “If you use carbide, in less than a day, the plantains would become ripe,” she said.
In the same Ikeja, a trader who does not want her name in print and who claimed to have been in the business of banana for about 12 years, said the use of calcium carbide in the market is a punishable offence. “We do not use carbide to ripen our fruits. It is not good. We only use clothes to cover the fruits and after some days it will become ripe.”
It is not only fruits that the sellers ripen unnaturally with the use of chemical. Plantains also suffer a similar fate, as many plantain sellers also use calcium carbide to ripen plantains.
Ikon, a woman who sells plantain in Ikeja market, said plantains are usually transported from places like Oyo, Edo, Bayelsa and Ebonyi States, adding that it which could take up to three days for the product to arrive. During this period, they get ripe. And in case that they do not get ripe, the plantains that are not yet ripe are covered in clothes, plastic or nylon bags or in dark rooms in order to hasten the ripening process.
Experts react
CEO, God’s Goal Hospital, Dr Gabriel Omonaiye, attributed the attitude of using calcium carbide to ripen fruits to the increased demand in the fruit market and the challenge of transportation. He noted that fruits are often harvested before they ripen naturally and are often made to ripen artificially. According to Dr Omonaiye, calcium carbide is often illegally used to ripen fruits artificially. “Calcium carbide has impurities such as arsenic and phosphorus which are harmful and hazardous. Acetylene is the gas released from carbide to stimulate ripening. It is not as effective as ethylene which is the naturally occurring ripener”.
He gave examples of fruits and vegetables that are ripened by artificial methods to include bananas, tomatoes, pawpaw, dates and oranges.
To identify them he said: “Fruits that are ripened artificially are of poorer/ inferior quality in terms of tastes and shelf life. They could appear yellow and ripe on the surface, but the inner part could still be green and unripe”.
Consumption of fruits that were ripened with carbide, Dr Omonaiye said, could cause stomach upset because the alkaline substance erodes the mucosa of the stomach and also disrupts the function of the intestines. “There could be vomiting, diarrhoea (with or without blood), burning sensation of the chest and abdomen, thirst, weakness, difficulty in swallowing, sore throat, skin ulcers, cough and difficulty in breathing”.
He added that Acetylene gas which is released from carbide to ripen fruits can induce prolonged low oxygen levels (Tissue hypoxia).
Other harmful effects of carbides, he said, are headaches, dizziness, mood changes, somnolence (Sleepiness), mental confusion, memory loss, cerebral oedema (Brain swelling due to fluid accumulation), and convulsions, skin burn, irritation and inflammation.
“We shouldn’t forget to mention cardiovascular dysfunction, diabetes mellitus and carcinogenesis on the long time,” he added.
He noted that in some nations of the world, there are laws against the use of carbide for fruits ripening.
Also speaking on the issue of ripening fruits with calcium carbide, Dr Demola Agbaje of Lagoon Hospitals noted that commercially, CaC2 is known to be used for welding, desulfurization of steel, and synthesis of acetylene and cyanamide, it has scrupulously gained a function as a fruit ripening agent due to the pressure to meet up with ever-growing demand for food crops and fruits to its nature.
According to Agbaje, effects from direct contact with the chemical can cause damage, which include acute effects of CaC2, such as skin burns, skin irritations, ocular burns, and even blindness.
“Bioaccumulation in fruits and, when consumed in large quantities, may affect the neurological system by inducing prolonged hypoxia. CaC2 is alkaline, irritates the mouth, nose and mucosal tissues in the abdomen, and induces stomach discomfort after eating CaC2-ripened fruits. Other health risks that consumers of carbide-ripened fruits are likely to encounter are caused by impurities such as Arsenic and phosphorus found in commercial CaC2. These health challenges range from acute mouth and nose irritation, difficulty in swallowing, persistent thirst, vomiting, dizziness and fatigue to chronic skin damage, skin ulcer, and kidney failure,” he stated.
