CANACONA: It’s summer time and as the temperature is soaring in Goa to make a quick buck unscrupulous beverage sellers are using unhealthy ingredients to the detriment of the health of the consumers. Due to the unavailability of food grade ice, road side joints who serve beverages like Limbu soda, sugarcane juice, lassi and other synthetic drinks are now using industrial ice which can cause health issues.
The ice manufacturing plants mainly use well water which is not safe to consume and is not of the same quality as drinking water. It is ingested directly when added to juices and soft drinks or indirectly when used to refrigerate foods such as fish and seafoods. Since it is non food grade it can cause irreparable health problems to the consumer. Ice is also sometimes contaminated with pathogenic micro-organisms where a contaminated water source is used in its production or where there are lapses in hygiene in their handling.
Outbreaks of gastroenteritis due to contaminated ice have been reported earlier in some parts of India. The possible causes of these outbreaks were due to the consumption of ice contaminated with pathogens such as Norovirus and Giardia lamblia.
An investigation revealed that a server’s hands might have contaminated ice machines with Norovirus and there was direct transfer from the hands of a carrier who scooped up ice for restaurant customers with contaminated bare hands.
As the road side vendors serving soft drink and juices don’t follow proper hygiene and also found to use ice coming from ice factories which is mostly for preservation of fish, a major out break of disease is not ruled out.
