Errant bottled water, food suppliers beware
by Carol Aloysius
The Health Ministry has stepped up its raids on all food outlets
selling contaminated or unregistered bottled water and artificially
ripened fruit.
This is a sequel to the recent raids where large stocks of such
contaminated items in warehouses and eating outlets in Kotahena and
Pettah were seized. A joint operation by the Health Ministry's Food
control Unit and Colombo Municipal Council inspectors on Monday detected
a large number of unregistered bottled water and artificially ripened
fruits containing excessive carbide being sold in food outlets at
Bastian Mawatha, Pettah. CMC sources said that all bottled water and
food sold in shops and boutiques should meet the approval of the CMC
after samples are tested at its microbiology laboratory.
Health sources said that among the artificially ripened fruits,
apples, mangoes, bananas and papaw were the most common. As far as
apples are concerned, they said it was difficult to say whether carbide
had been used since the exterior of the fruit appeared to be fresh.
Bananas and papaw too which had been ripened artificially but are spoilt
inside don't show visible signs until eaten", the spokesman said.
A spokesman for the Poisons Unit, National Hospital said that using
carbide was not harmful as long as it was used in the correct manner.
"Unfortunately, unscrupulous vendors apply the carbide directly on to
the fruits which poses a health risk if taken in the long term", he
said.
The sources said that legal action will be taken against errant
vendors and stiff fines will be imposed. |