Pay for mango, get papaya instead!

Ever wondered, why a glass of 'colourful & tasty' mango shake comes at Rs5 to Rs15 even when prices of mangoes soar upto Rs45 a kg?

Watch out, if you love to savour mango shake at roadside stalls, because your favourite drink may cause harm to you. Most of the stall owners use sugar syrup, colour and essence to add flavour and taste to the drink. In some cases you pay for mango and get papaya instead! City vendors are trying every trick up their sleeve to maximise profit. 

It's not that the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is not aware about the nefarious practice adopted by roadside vendors. The civic body officials carry out raids to check the ingredients used by the vendors in mango shake, but it is not an easy task for them. Whenever they take action against a vendor, two stalls crop up in the vicinity! 

When DNA asked a mango shake vendor about the ingredients, he said. "We mix papaya as mango is too expensive. Usually, we add milk to dilute the thick mango shake. Sometimes, water is also added."

He said most of the shop owners use sugar syrup to maintain sweetness, colour to give the drink a dark orange look, mango essence for flavour and fragrance apart from ice to fill the glass.

Health experts say the vendors not only use cheaper and poor quality mangoes but also use many ingredients which are harmful.  "They use inferior quality mangoes which they buy in bulk at cheap rates. To make the drink thick with a natural look, they mix papaya and colour. We have also found that most of them do not maintain hygienic condition around their stalls," said a senior health department official.