Fruits and vegetables we eat are indeed a great blessing from Almighty Allah. It goes without saying that there is nothing like eating fruit when it is ripe. However, every fruit has its own natural and distinct timeframe within which the transformation from a flower to fruit takes place. Fruits and vegetables can be divided into two main categories for example the ones that continue to ripen after picking and the ones that should be ripe at the time of picking. But the fact is that every fruit has the best flavour and taste when picked ripe or almost ripe.
Over the past several years it has been observed that fruits are brought into the market even much before their time of harvesting and this premature harvest and artificial fruit ripening, which is in practice almost every part of the world, is posing a serious threat to life. Moreover the social media network is a buzz with reports that farmers and fruit merchants are using syringes to add colour and sweetness in watermelons and similarly dyeing agents and sometimes color-spray is used to give veggies and fruits a better look just to attract consumers and to enhance the sale of the product. In addition to this there are other sophisticated methodologies being used for the purpose. According to data available on the net there are different chemicals being used to achieve even faster and more uniform ripening characteristics of fruits and that too at the cost of its Nutritional Values.
In addition to Ethylene gas, calcium carbide is used to ripen fruits after they have been picked. Calcium Carbide is a dangerous and corrosive chemical. Carbide ripened fruits on consumption cause several harmful effects to human health. The fast ripened fruits contain harmful properties because CaC2 contains traces of arsenic and phosphorus and the production of acetylene gas has a hazardous effect on human health. According to reports calcium carbide is used by farmers and fruit market traders at a large scale to speed up the ripening process of fruit like mango, banana, peach and lemon. The widely used chemical for artificially ripening fruits, containing arsenic and phosphorus, can prove fatal for human beings. CaC2 is a known carcinogen – an agent having the ability to alter human cells into cancerous.
Given the complexities and risks involved in using CaC2 (calcium carbide) as a fruit ripening agent it is high time that the people at the helm of affairs should take effective cognizance of the matter and stop using this carcinogen agent by taking to task all those involved in this immoral and illicit trade. Since it is a matter of public interest the honorable chief justice of Pakistan should take a suo moto notice against the use of CaC2 and save the masses from health hazards of consuming artificially ripened fruits.
