Ecobreves – CUBA: Accelerating Fruit Maturation with Chemicals

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HAVANA, Oct 1 2005 (IPS) - Cuban experts warn that the indiscriminate use of chemicals to speed up the maturation process of fruits and vegetables threatens the health of consumers in this Caribbean country, which officially favors ecological farming methods. The practice is facilitated by the clandestine sales of ethepon and other chemicals used as maturation enhancers and which, in sufficient quantities, can cause acute intoxication and other illness in those who eat treated foods.

Experts in the province of Villa Clara, 300 km from Havana, said in a press conference that in Cuba there are no chemical substances approved for this purpose, much less for unregulated application.

Nevertheless, unscrupulous fruit and vegetable vendors obtain these chemicals and line their pockets with the profits, according to chemical engineer María Matilde Viera, and Public Health Ministry official Dora Martha Rivera.