Oxytocin, the hormone used to ripen fruits and vegetables which has come under the scanner of the health ministry, does not seem to cause any immediate adverse effect on human health but can have long-term effect.
According to medical practitioners and other health experts, the most difficult part is identifying any fruit or vegetable which has been grown with the help of Oxytocin and not in the natural manner.
"It is difficult on the part of a layman to identify that a vegetable or a fruit has not grown the natural way.
Farmers can use chemicals and hormones to grow the
vegetables," Dr Rekha Sharma, former nutritionist at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, said.
The hormone is being rampantly used as it is available at a cheaper rate in open market.
"We have not come across any case where the health of the person has been immediately affected due to the consumption of such fruits and vegetable," she said.
Sharma, however, added that it will show its effect on human health in the long run. "Moreover there is no law in place that can penalise these people who use it".
Agreeing with her, another nutritionist working with Max Healthcare, Dr Preeti Vijay, said, "fruits and vegetables that have been grown with the help of chemicals or hormones will not show its adverse effect on human health immediately after consumption. But it can have an effect later".
Dr V M Katoch, Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said, "Oxytocin has been reported to be used since 1992. It is used to help in plant growth. There
are, however, no reports of its adverse effect on human beings till date".
Indian Minister of State for Health and Family
Welfare, Dinesh Trivedi had last week written a letter to Health Secretary Sujatha Rao urging the ministry to take immediate action against the indiscriminate use of the harmful Oxytocin by farmers.
Locally known as "paani", "cocin" or "dawai", this Schedule H drug is widely available at almost all small stores and is very cheaply available. It is widely used by farmers as
a means to expedite the growth of fruits and vegetables. In his letter Trivedi highlighted the irreparable damages that can be caused by the rampant use of Oxytocin. The word Oxytocin originates from a Greek word that means quick birth and this hormone has long been used to
stimulate labour, or stop post delivery bleeding. It is basically a mammalian hormone that also acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain.
The drug has, however, been banned for animal use in India but according to Trivedi this ban too is not strictly been implemented.
Extensive use of the hormone has been known to cause sterility, nervous breakdowns, and several other neurotic complications and the damages caused to one's health may be irreparable.
"I have requested the state governments to take action in this regard as it (food adulteration) falls under their jurisdiction. After our advise, raids are also being conducted
in many states," Trivedi had said.
He said complaints regarding vendors administering some kind of harmful injections in pumpkins and water-melons to get the time advantage in ripening them have been received
by the Government.
"We can't have a situation where anybody can do anything for profits... law of land has to take its own course. No state has thousands of inspectors, we don't want inspector-raj but somewhere the pressure of the customer has to prevail on," Trivedi added.