"Some people are now afraid that non-standardized ice brought from the markets will affect their health," the report said, noting that different manufacturers made different sizes of ice with the smallest usually considered the most hygienic.
A woman identified only as Thoeun, living in Samrong commune’s Chak Chrouk village in Dangkor district in Phnom Penh, told the newspaper that she was told by an ice salesman to use melted ice water to fertilize her flowers and other plants.
"No one knew about this at all until the ice salesman told her," the report said, adding that she had been using melted ice water on her flowers and lemon grass with good results and that her relatives had been doing likewise as well.
A man living in Chom Choa commune reportedly told the newspaper that he using melted ice water for his flowers as well, adding that this indicated it contained urea, an important source of nitrogen for plants which also serves as the main nitrogenous breakdown product of protein metabolism in mammals.
Sanh Vantha, a motorcycle taxi driver at Chum Pou Van market, told the newspaper that he saw many urea bags at an ice factory near Chhbar Ampov market about six months ago. Although the owner said the fertilizer was reserved for use at farms only, he said he saw with his own eyes that the urea was being use to freeze water.
Apart from using salt and urea in the production process, a worker at one ice producer reportedly told the newspaper that some producers were using an unidentified liquid essence to freeze ice and white flour for storage.
A worker at a manufacturer in Kandal province’s Kean Svay district told the newspaper that his factory used copper sulfate for water purification and both urea and a "kind of drug essence" from Vietnam which sold for $300 for 30 liters and was able to freeze water in as little as three hours.
0 comments:
Please add comment to express your opinion, and share it on Twitter or Facebook. Thank you in advance.