Exploding watermelons in China

Last Updated on Tuesday, 30 November 1999 00:00 Thursday, 19 May 2011 16:03

By: fanatic

Beware of water melons from China - farmers have been reporting their water melons have been randomly blowing up sending juicy chunks of melon flying in all directions. The use of a growth compound by farmers to artificially grow the melon faster and get the crop to market earlier has been blamed by some as the cause of the exploding melons.

The Xinhua News Agency reported that 115 acres planted with melons were ruined when they began exploding. The chemical used by the farmers, forchlorfenuron, was reported by them to be the source of the problem. But since then, other farmers have experienced the same problem but have not sprayed the chemical on their crops.

It's not just China that has authorised the use of forchlorfenuron. The same chemical is used in the United States to boost production of kiwi fruit and grapes. But suspicion of China's food industry is widespread, particularly given the secretive nature of government, lack of traceability and transparency and scandals that have rocked the Chinese food industry to their core.

In 2008, six children were killed and hundreds of thousands sickened after dairy products were sold containing melamine. Two people were put to death by the Chinese government for their role in the affair. Other issues, like toxic fish and children's toys containing poisonous lead based products has left many untrusting of Chinese produce.