Keralites lap up pesticide-free oranges

This is the result of the campaign against the use of pesticides in vegetables and the vigil mounted by the food safety officials. The food safety commissioner T.V. Anupama also attributes the change to the skeptical attitude of the people towards fruits that look glowing and ripe.

“There is certainly an increased awareness and the food safety department also initiated steps in right earnest before the onset of the fruit season in April this year, by issuing circulars to vendors and transporters and holding meetings. We are happy we have been able to save oranges this season when there was a bumper crop and mostly, there are no complaints about adulteration through the use of carbide and formalin to ripen them unlike previous years,” Ms Anupama told DC on Thursday.

Anupama said that adulteration in oranges through the use of carbide and formalin took place during their transportation to the state. “It is a volatile situation and the real culprits escape. Nowadays everybody is cautious. In the beginning of the season we made a seizure of carbide from Kasargod, barring that there was no major seizure,” Anupama said, adding that incidents like adulteration fruits had come down by 50 per cent this season.

Abdul Nazar A.K.M., a wholesale merchant in fruits at the Ernakulam market, said that 15 truckloads of oranges were coming to the Ernak-ulam market alone daily.

“The situation will chan-ge in the coming week with the Ambika season coming to an end and the price will go up after that. The fruit will get the orange colour in the coming Mirak season which starts in February when snow sets in,” Mr Nazar said.