The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has reiterated ill-consequences of eating fruits ripened with calcium carbide.
The health warnings formed part of NAFDAC’s Director General, Prof. Moji Adedeye’s speech in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, on Thursday during the Southsouth zonal media sensitisation workshop on: Dangers of Drug Hawking and Ripening Fruits With Calcium Carbide.
Adeyeye who was represented by NAFDAC’s Director Chemical Evaluation and Research, Dr. Leonard Omokpariola, said consumers of such fruits are candidates for cancer, hypertension, burning sensation in the chest, in the eyes and stomach or even death.
Omokpariola also spoke in the same vein about drug hawking on the streets and in public places saying of both, “There have been clarion calls by well-meaning Nigerians on the need to take stringent regulatory actions to stem the dangerous tide of drug hawking and ripening of fruits with calcium carbide.
“In addition, several national dailies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have raised concerns on the looming danger and health implications of these two nefarious activities by certain unpatriotic and unscrupulous citizens in our country.”
