I'm so glad they are spraying this on my grapes and kiwi!

No link.

 

Yah no link....BUT got me thinking about the planes here spraying all the canals for mosquitos! They fly real low over my house all the time as we have a canal at the back of our property. What's that going to do to my garden...Hmmmm

 

Funny you mention canals Chopper because there was an article recently about the (manmade) ones down here and how they're having some serious E Coli problems... ewww.

Edit... found the story... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110517/ap_on_fe_st/as_china_exploding_watermelons;_ylt=AhRZmyCPL54uz9xb6uTMJJ9H2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTNjaTZlcDluBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwNTE3L2FzX2NoaW5hX2V4cGxvZGluZ193YXRlcm1lbG9ucwRjY29kZQNnbXBlBGNwb3MDMwRwb3MDMwRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3JpZXMEc2xrA2ZpZWxkc29md2F0ZQ--

BEIJING – Watermelons have been bursting by the score in eastern China after farmers gave them overdoses of growth chemicals during wet weather, creating what state media called fields of "land mines."

About 20 farmers around Danyang city in Jiangsu province were affected, losing up to 115 acres (45 hectares) of melon, China Central Television said in an investigative report.

Prices over the past year prompted many farmers to jump into the watermelon market. All of those with exploding melons apparently were first-time users of the growth accelerator forchlorfenuron, though it has been widely available for some time, CCTV said.

Chinese regulations don't forbid the drug, and it is allowed in the U.S. on kiwi fruit and grapes. But the report underscores how farmers in China are abusing both legal and illegal chemicals, with many farms misusing pesticides and fertilizers.

Wang Liangju, a professor with College of Horticulture at Nanjing Agricultural University who has been to Danyang since the problems began to occur, said that forchlorfenuron is safe and effective when used properly.

He told The Associated Press that the drug had been used too late into the season, and that recent heavy rain also raised the risk of the fruit cracking open. But he said the variety of melon also played a role.

"If it had been used on very young fruit, it wouldn't be a problem," Wang said. "Another reason is that the melon they were planting is a thin-rind variety and these kind are actually nicknamed the 'exploding melon' because they tend to split."

Farmer Liu Mingsuo ended up with eight acres (three hectares) of ruined fruit and told CCTV that seeing his crop splitting open was like a knife cutting his heart.

"On May 7, I came out and counted 80 (burst watermelons) but by the afternoon it was 100," Liu said. "Two days later I didn't bother to count anymore."

Intact watermelons were being sold at a wholesale market in nearby Shanghai, the report said, but even those ones showed telltale signs of forchlorfenuron use: fibrous, misshapen fruit with mostly white instead of black seeds.

In March last year, Chinese authorities found that "yard-long" beans from the southern city of Sanya had been treated with the banned pesticide isocarbophos. The tainted beans turned up in several provinces, and the central city of Wuhan announced it destroyed 3.5 tons of the vegetable.

The government also has voiced alarm over the widespread overuse of food additives like dyes and sweeteners that retailers hope will make food more attractive and boost sales.

Though Chinese media remain under strict government control, domestic coverage of food safety scandals has become more aggressive in recent months, an apparent sign that the government has realized it needs help policing the troubled food industry.

The CCTV report on watermelons quoted Feng Shuangqing, a professor at the China Agricultural University, as saying the problem showed that China needs to clarify its farm chemical standards and supervision to protect consumer health.

The broadcaster described the watermelons as "land mines" and said they were exploding by the acre (hectare) in the Danyang area.

Many of farmers resorted to chopping up the fruit and feeding it to fish and pigs, the report said.

This report, from 2008, shows what the US was, at that time, importing from China... http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL34080.pdf don't know how things have changed since then, but still an interesting read.

Dairy products including Casein, Caseinates & derivatives, Other natural milk proteins, Yogurt, Butter and Cheese (processed NOT fresh)

Ag and Seafood imports include Other fish & products (not listed below), Fruit juices, Fruit processed, Misc horitcultural products, Shrimp & prawns, Mollusks, Other crustaceans, Feed ingredients & fodders, Vegetables prepared or preserved, Misc industrial use, Poultry misc, Sugar & related products, Salmon, Fresh vegetables including potatoes, Vegetables dried/dehydrated, Misc meat products, Edible tree nuts, Grains and feed misc, Tea excluding herbal, Vegetables frozen, Misc hair industrial use, Other oilseed products nonagricultural, Spices, Fruit dried, Misc sugar and tropical

Those lists were from a table, why it looks so odd, and there's another chart showing our exports to China... further down is info on stuff the FDA refused... eel and catfish for fear of vet meds residue... sunfish/etc were refused for that but also filthy appearance and Salmonella... the list goes on and on...

Just one more reason to buy local. Least then if you end up sick you can look the person in the eye who poisoned you.

 

I just saw that news story this morning.

Ugh I was completely grossed out too. No more kiwis for me, and organic grapes for sure from now on!

 

Quote:Hehe... I've yet to figure out what my excuse is.

I was cruising the news (don't watch TV just snoop online when I want the depressing bits) and stumbled across that one and thought AHA that's what Vart posted about so figured I'd post it in... just a lucky (or perhaps unlucky?) stumble but glad it helped.

 

Yikes! How can they think that's an ok thing to do?

 

Exploding watermelons? Because they are thin-skinned? Seriously? Really? Last I checked, I was purty thin-skinned myself. Hmmmm...... (brow furrows in deep thought-beads of perspiration pop out and drip off nose) EUREKA!!! Don't eat no watermelons from China!!!!! Or anything else for that matter. The only thing about growing our own food and being organic, now I look at other foods as poison bombs.