Apple adulterated, vendors let off

Kalimpong, July 3: The Kalimpong municipality has let off vendors selling adulterated apples on the ground that they were unaware of their offence, a claim that has been rubbished by consumers specially when all it needs is a light scratch on the fruit’s surface to prove the quality.

The subdivisional officer of Kalimpong, L.N Sherpa who is also the administrator of the civic body, said the traders were not competent enough to know that apples polished with wax were adulterated. Lawyers said a conviction under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act could fetch a minimum imprisonment of six months and a maximum of seven years.

Consumers have refused to buy Sherpa’s claim that vendors unknowingly sold apples coated with wax, specially since fruit sellers polishing apples with a cloth is a common sight across the country. The polish to the wax coating brought a shine to the apple.

“It is hard to believe that the traders were not aware of the fact that the apples they were selling were coated with wax. It is a normal sight, vendors polishing the apples with a piece of cloth... The civic body should not have let the guilty go easily, and instead, made an example out of them,” said Ujjal Rai, a resident of the town.

Yesterday, the civic body’s health department carried out raids on fruit stalls here and seized 32kg of apple coated with wax which gives extra glaze to the produce. The vendors sold the apples for Rs 150 a kg, claiming that it was a special variety imported from Chile and New Zealand.

“We carried out the raids after we found out that the apples being sold as imports from Chile and New Zealand were coated with wax. It was easy to establish the adulteration. Scratch the surface of the apple with a knife and small layers of wax come out. This sort of apples is harmful to the humans’ health. If one eats such fruits, he might face problems like indigestion, gastritis and even diarrhoea,” said Dr Sangay Zimba, the health officer of the civic body.

Zimba said the raids had been carried out on 16 stalls, 14 of which were illegal, in places like DS Gurung Road, Ogden Road, Main Road, Rishi Road, Haat Bazaar and CK Chowk. “The apples were being sold to customers for Rs 150 a kilo. Most of the vendors did not have trading licence of the municipality. We let off them with a strong warning. In future, strong action will be taken against anyone operating without the licence and found selling adulterated and spurious stuff,” said Zimba.

The vendors, many of whom were operating without licence for as many as 10 years, pleaded innocence. “We get all our fruits from Siliguri and sell them as they are brought here. Had I known that they were adulterated, I wouldn’t have sold them,” said a vendor.

SDO Sherpa said the vendors had pleaded innocence. “The traders are not competent to know whether the apples are adulterated or not. They sell them as they come from Siliguri. Since this is the first time, they have been let off.

-The Telegraph