Nagpur: The next time if you walk into a roadside fruit juice bar for a cold drink then think twice before you gulp it. As the ice mixed in fruit, sugarcane juices and other cold beverages being sold in all wayside eateries could be the one used for preserving seafood and flowers. This ice could pose health hazards.
The trend of using this easily available inedible ice, also known as industrial ice, manufactured using non-purified water in hazardous environment and the ignorance of public about the health issues they pose is increasing.
There are stringent regulations and instructions that hygiene should be ensured before making ice for human consumption but this is not happening when it comes to the manufacturing of industrial ice. The use of such ice in drinks can land you in the hospital.
Ice used in fruit drinks is safe: FDA
When Nagpur Today took matter to the Assistant Commissioner of Food and Drug Administration Milind Deshpande he rubbished the allegations and stressed that, ice used in fruits drinks is safe as long as it’s not blue in colour.
“Following the irregularities reported in usage of ice; the FDA has decided to change the colour of non-edible ice to blue. Thus now, food vendors using contaminated ice can be easily identifiable. As long as any vendors are not using blue ice in the cold beverages, the quality of the ice should not be questioned,” asserted Deshpande.
– By Shubham Nagdeve
