VIJAYAWADA: After the major outbreak of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in Bihar which claimed over 100 lives, Odisha has issued orders to test lychee fruit for the presence of toxins.
However, in Andhra Pradesh, though the fruit is being sold, officials are paying no attention towards it. Horticulture officials say the production of lychee in AP is virtually zero and the fruit that is being sold in the State is imported from other States.
Marketing officials say that they cannot curb the sale of fruit. Similarly, food safety officials maintain that there has been no issue with the fruit as it comes with stalk and doesn’t need any ripening.
Lychee is not new to people of AP. The fruit floods the market in summer every year. Some supermarkets directly import the fruit from others States to make it available round the year. From ice creams to cakes and in various desserts and drinks, lychees are used.
There was an apprehension that 115 children in Bihar, who consumed the fruit, had contracted AES and succumbed. Though it was not proved that the toxins present in the fruit caused the death, Odisha has imposed curbs on import of lychee fruit from Bihar. The AP officials are yet to issue any order to test lychee for the presence of toxins.
“We don’t have any lychee crop in the State and we don’t look into the ones that are being imported from other States. It is not yet proved that the encephalitis deaths occurred in Bihar due to consumption of lychee,” Chiranjiv Choudhary, Commissioner of Horticulture Department, told TNIE.
C Ramanjaneyulu, Joint Director of Marketing, said, “We don’t deal in marketing of lychee fruit. Only fruit merchants get lychee from other States and sell it here. Food controllers will check the quality of fruit in the wake of apprehensions pertaining to presence of toxins in it.”