Mumbai : In order to identify the ice used in food products and for industrial use, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) Mumbai is likely to split ice into two different colours in order identify it easily. The FDA commissioner said that industrial ice will be in blue colour and ice used for food products will continue to be transparent.
A senior official said recently they had taken a meeting with the civic officials and the owners of ice factory on changing the colour of ice to blue which usually used in industries. “After getting approval from everyone, last week the proposal has been sent to the government on changing the colour of ice,” added Pallavi Darade, FDA commissioner.
She stated that once the proposal is approved by the government it will be made mandatory for all ice factories in the state to change the colour of ice to blue. These moves come after five months when more than 70 per cent of contaminated ice samples were seized by the FDA in April 2017 due to which more than 916 gastroenteritis cases were reported.
“Gastroenteritis spreads through contaminated water, mostly during the monsoons. The reason it’s spreading in the summer is that people are consuming contaminated ice and juices from the streets,” health officials said.
A senior official said that the ice which is used in food items are made of portable water and ice used in industries are made of non-portable water. The industrial ice is used in mortuary, cement and colour factory. “If this proposal is approved then it will be easier for citizens to identify between eating ice and industrial ice. Moreover, Mumbai will be the first city were two colour of ice will be used,” Darade added.
