Carbide ripened fruits may cause sleep disorder, mouth ulcer, others – NAFDAC
Chima Azubuike
The Director-General National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, says consumption of carbide ripened fruits may cause sleep disorder, mouth ulcer, adding that it may lead to cancer.
Adeyeye made this disclosure on Monday in Bauchi State, during a one-day sensitisation workshop organised for journalists, market men and women in North-East on the dangers of drug hawkers, carbide ripened fruits.
The NAFDAC boss, who was represented by the Director of Chemical Evaluation and Research, Dr Patrick Omokpariola, Adeyeye said carbide ripened fruits include considerable loss of properties such as colour, taste and feel, and such practice does not give the natural aroma and flavour to the fruits.
She said, “These fruits do not possess uniform colour and are less juicy than when ripened naturally and have comparatively shorter shelf life. Calcium Carbide when sprayed with water reacts chemically to produce acetylene, which acts like ethylene and ripens fruits by a similar process. Calcium carbide generally contains impurities such as arsenic, lead particles, phosphorus, etc., that pose several very serious health hazards.
“Consumption of fruits containing these impurities may cause cancer, heart, kidney and liver failure. They may also cause frequent thirst, irritation in mouth and nose, weakness, permanent skin damage, difficulty in swallowing, vomiting, skin ulcer and so forth. Higher exposure may cause undesired fluid build-up in lungs (pulmonary oedema).”
Adeyeye continued saying that “Acetylene produced by Calcium Carbide affects the neurological system and reduces oxygen supply to the brain and further induces prolonged hypoxia.
The impurities are hazardous to pregnant women and children and may lead to headache, dizziness, mood disturbances, mental confusion, memory loss, cerebral oedema (swelling in the brain caused by excessive fluids), sleepiness, seizure etc.
Calcium Carbide is alkaline in nature and erodes the mucosal tissue in the abdominal region and disrupts intestinal functions.
“Consuming such artificially ripened fruits could result in sleeping disorders, mouth ulcers, skin rashes, kidney problems and possibly even cancer. Other symptoms of poisoning include diarrhoea (with or without blood), burning or tingling sensation in abdomen and chest difficulty in swallowing, irritation in eyes/skin, sore throat, cough, shortness in breathing, numbness etc,” she added.
On his part, Chairman of Health Journalists in Nigeria, Hassan Zaki, lauded NAFDAC for raising the alarm disclosing that it would help to save lives following the impact of journalists.
Zaki also urged journalists to amplify the campaign on drug abuse and carbide ripened fruits in the region, adding that “For Journalists to talk about an issue they must know the issue well and in this sense the issues are drug hawking and ripening of fruits with carbide.”
Also speaking, Director Public Affairs Dr Abubakar Jimoh, commended participants who attended the workshop.
