Summary:
ARTIFICIAL RIPENINGPatiala, June 21To check artificial ripening of fruits, the district health and horticulture departments conducted a joint raid at the new vegetable market on Sanour road here this morning. Led by Swaran Singh, Deputy Director, Horticulture Department, and District Health Officer Satinder Singh, the team collected samples of banana, mangoes and litchis, which would be sent to laboratory to test if these were artificially ripened. Satinder Singh said, “We found some shopkeepers using calcium carbide to ripen mangoes. We have collected the samples and sent them to a lab.”Meanwhile, Civil Surgeon Harish Malhotra said action would be taken under the Food Safety Act if the samples failed the test..