Fruits That Cause Cancer, Kidney Disease, Others — NAFDAC

The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye said eating fruits that have been ripened with calcium carbide can result in serious health issues like cancer, heart failure, kidney failure, and liver failure.

Adeyeye added that eating such fruits may result in frequent thirst, irritation in the mouth and nose, weakness, permanent skin damage, difficulty in swallowing, vomiting, and skin ulcer.

She stated this on Tuesday at the official flag-off of NAFDAC’s media sensitisation workshop on the dangers of drug hawking and ripening of fruits with calcium carbides.

According to her, the ripening of fruits with carbide is a public problem, and the agency has employed a diverse strategy to combat the problem.

“Fruits provide the body with micronutrients that improve immunity and prevent diseases among other benefits. Fruit ripening is a unique aspect of plant development, which makes the fruit edible, softer, sweeter, more palatable, nutritious, and attractive.

“However, the consumption of fruits such as mango, banana, plantain, guava, orange, grape, etc, or any other fruits ripened with calcium carbide is dangerous to health,” she said.

INDENTIFYING CHEMICALLY RIPENED FRUITS

Prof. Adeyeye noted that fruits that have been chemically ripened with calcium carbide may have ripe skins but inside remains unripe.

She advised, “You can identify such artificially ripened fruits if you notice that the fruits are all yellow whereas the stem is dark, this is true, especially with bananas and plantains. In addition, naturally ripened fruits usually have brown or black spots, while those artificially ripened have traces of powdery substances and peel off quickly. “

Additionally, she emphasized how artificially ripening fruit results in a significant loss of qualities like colour, taste, and texture and that it deprives fruits of their natural aroma and flavour.

“These fruits do not possess uniform colour and are less juicy than when ripened naturally and have a 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 and others 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 the 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 the lungs.

“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, swelling in the brain caused by excessive fluids, sleepiness, seizure, and others,” The NAFDAC boss said.

She went on to say that calcium carbide, which is naturally alkaline, erodes the mucosal tissue in the abdominal region and interferes with digestive activities.

She asserted that “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 diarrhea, burning or tingling sensation in abdomen and chest difficulty in swallowing, irritation in eyes, and skin, sore throat, cough, shortness of breath, and numbness.”

She said the agency has commissioned a scientific study on the best strategy for mitigating the health hazards associated with the use of carbides in the ripening of fruits.