ISLAMABAD, June 13: The National Institute of Health has confirmed that ginger treated with acid in Islamabad is on sale in the country and has termed it hazardous for health. A senior official of the Islamabad Capital Territory administration told Dawn on Tuesday that following confirmation of acid contamination, Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Ch. Mohammad Ali had banned the cleaning of ginger with acid and sale of the treated ginger.

The official said a case had been registered against six employees of ginger processing plants in the city and now action would also be taken against their owners.

“It is for the first time that contamination in ginger has been confirmed,” Islamabad’s district health officer Dr Fazl-i-Maula said.

He said five samples of contaminated ginger seized last month by the local administration from processing plants in the fruit and vegetable market of Islamabad had been sent for chemical analysis to the NIH and the samples were found to be containing about 50 per cent acid and dangerous for human life.

The ICT administration came to know about the acid-treated ginger when it raided the processing plants last month and seized a large quantity of ginger.

A case was registered under sections 269, 270, 272, PPC, for adulteration and mixing harmful acid in the widely used green spice.

People involved in the business dip ginger in acid to clean it or increase its weight. “The ginger which is processed in acid looks clean and becomes heavier,” the deputy commissioner said.

He said the dangerous ginger had been supplied in large quantities in markets across the country and people preferred it because it looked fresh and clean.

Ginger, imported from China, Burma, Singapore, Bangladesh and India, was stocked in Islamabad and supplied to different cities after being treated with acid, he said.

People involved in the daily business earned a lot of money because a consignment worth Rs100,000 becomes four times heavier after it is dipped in acid and then it is sold for about Rs500,000.

The acid-treated ginger, however, has flooded the market and is still being sold, market sources said.

People in different parts of the country find it difficult to get untreated ginger.