Mumbai: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday seized 1,394kg of bananas worth ₹ 67,814 from the APMC Turbhe Fruit Market after finding that the fruit was being artificially ripened by directly dipping it in a chemical solution containing Ethephon, a practice prohibited under food safety regulations.
N-919 at the fruit market and found workers dipping bananas in a solution of BTHILEX (Ethephon 39% SL), a plant growth regulator. The agency said only ethylene gas, up to 100 ppm, is permitted for artificial ripening, and that it must be used in closed chambers and in accordance with the procedure prescribed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The action follows an FSSAI directive issued on May 15, 2025, directing states to crack down on artificial ripening practices involving fruits such as mangoes, bananas and papayas. Officials suspected that it could be counterfeit or unregistered and referred the matter to the concerned department under the Insecticides Act, 1968. The FDA registered a case at APMC police station in Navi Mumbai under relevant provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, Section 59 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Insecticides Act, 1968. how to identify artificially ripened bananas The colour of such artificially ripened bananas looks uniformly yellow/attractive, but the fruit is raw, hard or bland inside.
Acting on a tip-off, an FDA team inspected stall No. The agency seized the bananas and the chemical during the inspection. Ethephon, also known as Ethrel, may be used only to generate ethylene gas for ripening. Direct application of the chemical solution to fruit is not permitted. The FDA team also found that the BTHILEX chemical did not carry manufacturer details on its packaging and had no registration number of the Central Insecticides Board & Registration Committee (CIB&RC). They also have spots and blemishes with visible uneven colour on the peel. The stalk end looks green while the rest of the fruit appears quickly ripened. Also, such fruits spoil faster than naturally ripened fruits.
The seller had allegedly prepared the solution by mixing two caps of the chemical in five litres of water, the FDA said. The FDA said directly dipping fruit in an Ethephon solution to ripen is prohibited and that chemically treated fruit may retain residues that could pose a health risk. Calcium carbide, commonly called “masala”, is also prohibited for fruit ripening under food safety regulations.
