A huge 50 hectare crop of watermelons in Danyang, China is recently reported to have been ruined after growers sprayed them with forchlofenuron, the well known growth accelerator, banned in the West, but not restricted in China.

One account tells that only a day after dousing the crop, the melons exploded and were lost, causing ruin to some farmers.

The event has drawn attention from the Premier Wen Jiabao who warned of unethical practices but neglected to indicate that a national ban on forchlorfenuron, and other harmful chemicals, lacing foods with nitrates, preservatives and additives and other of these practices would be guaranteed to be enforced.

Knowing of this recent event brings to our attention that fact that rigid protective measures are not employed in all countries. With foods sourced from China consumers should be particularly cautious.

We still remember their national scandal in 2008 that involved milk polluted with the industrial chemical melamine causing sickness or even mortality in hundreds of thousands of the population, mainly children.

 

Tags: banned agricultural chemicals permitted in China, concerns over health, toxic chemicals used on fruit

Filed under: Agriculture by admin