TRICHY: The food safety department in Trichy on Thursday seized around 4,500 kg of mangoes that were ripened through illegal methods using chemicals. The officials have collected two samples from the mangoes for examination.
Food safety department officials said that they received information from consumers about the illegal ripening of mangoes at the Gandhi Market locality. While inspecting a couple of wholesale godowns near the Nelpettai Road in the market, the officials found that 4,500 kg of Banganapalle and Sendoor breeds of mangoes were ripened by spraying ethylene directly on the mangoes to expedite the ripening process. The method of direct application of a chemical on mangoes was banned, officials said. “We have destroyed all the mangoes worth Rs 3 lakh at Ariyamangalam dump yard,” district food safety officer Dr R Ramesh Babu told TOI.
People can lodge such complaints in Trichy over phone: 99449-59595.
