Srinagar- Ahead of Ramazan, the department of Food Safety, Jammu and Kashmir has appealed people not to panic amid reports of influx of artificially ripened fruits into the market.
An official from the department told Kashmir Observer that they have constituted different teams in all the districts to ensure the fruits and vegetables in the market are chemical free.
Notably, there were reports going on in social media that artificially ripened watermelons have flooded the Kashmir markets ahead of holy month Ramazan.
“This is no watermelon season, Say NO to artificially ripened watermelon this Ramadan. Save yourself from chemicals and later on chemotherapy,” posted Dr Wajahat, a clinical Oncologist on X/twitter.
During the holy month, the consumption of fruits, especially watermelon, sees a significant surge in the valley. However, there has been a concern always regarding the artificially ripened fruits into the market.
Shagufa Jalal, Deputy Commissioner, J&K Drug and Food Control Organisation said that they are routinely carrying-out the market checking in all the districts of Kashmir to check whether any fruit or vegetable has been adulterated or contaminated, ensuring the safety of consumers.
“The people need not to panic. We are conducting the market checking and surveillance sampling, every third week of the month,” Jalal said, adding, “As of now we did not have any reports of fruit being adulterated”
Another official from the department told Kashmir Observer that watermelons ripen in various states across the country during different seasons.
“So, if the watermelon has arrived this time, it can’t be unseasonal.It must have been grown in the state where its season has begun or the fruit might be in the Controlled atmosphere (CA) stores” he said.
Mushtaq Ahamd, an official from the food safety department told Kashmir Observer that the surveillance samples of fresh fruits and vegetables carried out in the month of December 2023 didn’t show any negative results.
“We checked pesticides and other chemicals in the items but the reports came back negative,” he said.
He said that they carry out the drive according to commodities and seasonal fruits.
Ahmad further added that the department took samples of 382 items in the month of January and February and out of which reports of only 22 items came negative.
“…but these items weren’t laced with chemicals and pesticides,” he added.
Ahmad also added the samples that the department took from fresh fruits from the last two months didn’t show any significant negative sides.
Notably, from the last three years, J&K has topped the Food Safety Index, maintaining its top slot in the Union Territory category.
The index assesses the performance of states and Union Territories (UTs) based on various food safety parameters.
The officials said the people can also check the website of Foodsafty of India to check how the quality of the fruits and vegetables can be checked.
“..besides that we also update the status of fruits and vegetables continuously on our social media sites,” he added.
He said the people can also reach out to the Food safety department of Jammu and Kashmir on toll free number 104.
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