Dangers of consuming fruits ripened with calcium carbide

Caroline Ude, a student of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, died last year after eating some fruits.

She woke up with a stomach ache at midnight, and was rushed to hospital by her landlord. She died the next day, an autopsy conducted on her revealed that she died of consuming artificially ripened fruits.

Michael Okereke, a trader at the Onitsha main market, said that he narrowly escaped death recently after buying and consuming abanana not knowing that it was ripened with calcium carbide. He developed a stomach upset thereafter and was rushed to the hospital by his neighbour. The doctor said that he would have died if he had wasted time in seeking care.

Christina Uche, said the medicine she bought inside a bus from Owerri to Onitsha aggravated her illness.

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“I did not sleep throughout  the night after taking it, and it took the grace of God for me to stay till morning time before approaching hospital for treatment” she narrated.

Medical experts say consumption of drugs from street hawkers and fruits ripened with calcium carbide  is dangerous to health.

According to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), over 200,000 Nigerians including under-five children reportedly die annually from the consumption of contaminated foods.Director-General of the agency, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye said many Nigerians are dying as a result of unsafe, unscrupulous practices going on with food preparation and preservation.

She stated this while flagging-off the South – East NAFDAC Zone media sensitisation workshop on dangers of drug hawking and ripening of fruits with calcium carbide in Awka, Anambra State.

 Represented by the NAFDAC Director, Chemical Evaluation and Research, Dr Leonard Omokpariola, Adeyeye said the consumption of fruits ripened with calcium carbide causes cancer, heart failure, kidney failure, and liver failure and must be avoided.

She said   that calcium carbide generally contained impurities such as arsenic, lead particles, phosphorus, and others that pose several serious health hazards to human health.

According to the NAFDAC boss, fruits ripened with calcium carbide could cause frequent thirst, irritation in mouth and nose, weakness, permanent skin damage, difficulty in swallowing, vomiting and skin ulcer.

She however said, although fruits provide the body with micronutrients that improve immunity and prevent diseases among other benefits, consumption of fruits ripened with calcium carbide are dangerous to one’s health.

“Fruits artificially ripened with calcium carbide may be ripe on the skin, but the inside remains unripe.

“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 banana and plantain. In addition, naturally ripened fruits usually have brown or black spots, while those artificially ripened have traces of powdery substances and peel off quickly.”  She said.

The NAFDAC DG noted that the artificial ripening of fruit quality would lead to the considerable loss of properties such as colour, taste and feel, and such practice does not give the natural aroma and flavour to the fruits.

“These fruits do not possess uniform colour and are less juicy than when ripened naturally and have comparatively shorter shelf life.” she said.

She further explained that acetylene produced by calcium carbide  would affect the neurological system and reduce oxygen supply to the brain and further induce prolonged hypoxia.

According to her, these chemicals are hazardous to pregnant women and children and might lead to headaches, dizziness, mood disturbances, mental confusion, and memory loss, swelling in the brain caused by excessive fluids, sleepiness, seizure, and others.

She said the agency was concerned over the illegal hawking of drugs in the open markets across the country, reinstating the agency’s determination to rid Nigeria of the menace of substandard and falsified medicines, unwholesome foods, corrosive cosmetics and other substandard regulated products.

While appealing to Nigerians not to buy drugs from streets and bus hawkers, she said drugs have standard for preservation and that most people that hawk medicines are not qualified to handle them.

Prof Adeyeye said, “Many drug hawkers are knowingly or unknowingly merchants of death who expose essential and lifesaving medicines to the vagaries of inclement weather, which degrade the active ingredients of the medicine and turn them to poisons, thus endangering human lives.

“Most of the drugs sold by the illiterate and semi-literate drug hawkers are counterfeit, substandard or expired, and therefore do not meet the quality, safety and efficacy requirement of regulated medicines.

“Prescription drugs are also sold by the itinerant drug hawkers who also hold consultation, recommend and prescribe medicines to their gullible patients”, she said.

She stated that drug hawkers are also the major distributors and suppliers of narcotic medicines to criminal networks such as armed bandits, insurgents, kidnappers and armed robbers.

The NAFDAC boss added that drug hawkers constitute a serious threat to national security and human existence.

“Drugs are sensitive life-saving commodities, which should not be sold on the streets/motor parks or open markets just like any other article of trade.

“I wish to warn that any drug hawker arrested by NAFDAC will be prosecuted, will face a jail term and our enforcement officers are currently carrying out a synchronised nation-wide operation.

“No offender will be spared from facing the full wrath of the law. In this regard, we solicit the cooperation and support of all other law enforcement agencies,” she said.