India’s minister for health Dinesh Trivedi has demanded a nation-wide crackdown on fruit and vegetable growers illegally using the growth hormone Oxytocin.
In a letter written to the Union Health Secretary, Mr Trivedi said long-term exposure to the hormone may cause heart disorders, sterility, nervous breakdowns and memory loss, reported the AFP.
“These hormones may cause irreparable damage to our health, if taken through these vegetables, over a period of time. The even more shocking element is that the public/authorities may also be aware of this malpractice,” he said in the letter.
Oxytocin is used to induce childbirth and lactation in women, but the Minister stated the hormone was widely and illegally used by farmers in India to boost growth rates and appearance in crops, particularly cucurbits and eggplants.
“Such vegetables and fruits are then sold in the open market,” Mr Trivedi said. “The drug is so cheap and readily available and the implementation of the ban is so lax.”
Oxytocin is also known in India as ‘cocin’, ‘paani’ and ‘dawai’, reported the Indian Express, and is available in many fertiliser and pesticide traders.
The drug was banned for public sale in India following a series of media reports of the hormone being given to underage girls and sex workers to make them appear older.
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