Ice from untreated water, meant to preserve fish may be in your glass

CHENNAI: The city’s ice manufacturers and dealers have confessed what customers have for long suspected: All is not well with the ice lumps in their drinks.

Blocks of industrial ice meant for storing sea food and handled by workers with bare hands are wrapped in soiled sacks and transported by trucks, autos and rickshaws to various parts of the city. TOI unearthed this chain by tracing the journey of a dozen such blocks from a freezer in Kasimedu fishing harbour to a market in Tondiarpet, before they were lumped with a coating of chaff and mud on the sands of Marina. Within two hours, all the blocks, broken into pieces with rusty screwdrivers and ice picks, were sold to juice vendors.

“We just sell our ice, we don’t ask them what they do with it,” said

J Chandrasekaran

, who operates two ice plants in Kasimedu and Tondiarpet. While one unit pops out ice cubes made of reverse osmosis-treated water, the other moulds ice blocks, each weighing 150kg, from non-potable water. While restaurants, clubs and caterers are Chandrasekaran’s biggest clients for cubes, the blocks, which account for 70% of his sale, are sold to cold storage units in the harbour nearby.

With the ongoing two-month ban on fishing, one would assume his sales may have dropped drastically. “During the ban we continue to sell around 45,000kg of blocks every day as opposed to 80,000kg otherwise. In contrast, we sell only around 3,000kg of ice made with potable water, which remains standard through the year,” said Chandrasekaran, who is also the secretary of Chennai Ice Manufacturers’ Association. There are around 12 such manufactures in

North Chennai

alone. “If the ice is in lumps, customers have reasons to suspect its quality,” added Chandrasekaran.

As if on cue, TOI spotted a truck being loaded with ice blocks at his manufacturing unit in Kasimedu. Two bare-torsoed men lay sprawled on the ice, seeking respite from the heat as they waited for the driver. The vehicle then wound its way through the dusty roads of North Chennai to reach Marina. All through the half an hour drive from Royapuram to Marina, the ice lay bare with a ragged cloth thrown over it.

Workers at an ice-making unit in Kasimedu

At Marina beach, 47-year-old

Allirajan

waited behind the iconic labour statue for the load to arrive. “My family has engaged in the ice business for several generations,” said Allirajan, while keeping an eye on two youngsters who lowered the blocks on to rubber tyres before dragging them along the sand to a spot of shade. When asked who his clients were, his response was quick. “Fishermen, of course.” Chindhamani, his aged mother who made a living out of being a fortune-teller, scoffed as she heard the exchange. “Tell them the truth,” she said. “Sometimes we sell to vendors here too,” he said sheepishly.

He said there were other “ice-breakers” like him operating out of Tambaram and Avadi bus stops and behind the lighthouse in Marina. While a kilo of non-potable ice costs between Rs 1.50 and Rs 2, RO-treated ice is priced between Rs 9 and Rs 12.

Within 15 minutes, a juice vendor sauntered to Allirajan’s spot and bought five lumps of ice for Rs 50. “I mix potable and non-potable ice because sometimes food safety officials ask for bills during inspections,” said the vendor, who refused to give his name.

While summer is a busy time for food safety officials who step up their drive against contaminated water and food, they have turned a blind eye to the flourishing ice industry. “The quality of ice used by juice vendors is an issue for us,” said R Kathiravan, designated officer, TN Food Safety Department, Chennai.

The factory caters largely to the fishing industry


Senior paediatrician and general physician Dr

Benny Benjamin

, said contaminated ice preserves disease-causing organisms. "Unlike heat, which impacts the cells of disease-causing germs, frozen water preserves them. They become active at normal temperature,” said Dr Benjamin, who sees an increase in stomach-related ailments, especially among children, in summers. Contaminated ice can carry faecal germs like E.Coli that are spread through poor handling. “If the water is untreated, there could also be the possibility of chemical contamination,” warned Dr Benjamin.

An ice block being loaded on a truck to be transported to Kasimedu Harbour

Taking cognisance of the issue, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) – the country’s top food regulator – issued a directive to all ice manufacturers to start colour coding industrial ice blue to differentiate between edible and inedible ice. “We’ve been asked to enforce this from June 1,” said a senior food safety official.

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