Why are we seeing red over a watermelon? Here's what you should know about the fruit

Last Saturday the city saw a tragedy that has once again forced us to really look closely at how we eat but also at how misinformation and panic mdash all rolled up in 30second attentiongrabbing nuggets shoved down our phone screens mdash can lead to pandemoniumIn a heartbreaking incident last weekend the Kadar family mdash father Abdullah wife Nasreen and their two teenage daughters Zainab and Ayesha mdash died of suspected food poisoning The family had been at a gathering where they ate biryani and then headed home late at night They ate watermelon around 1 am and then went to bedAs unfounded fear spreads watermelon rot away at the marketsAbdullah told the doctors later that the last thing they had eaten was watermelon and he suspected that the diarrhoea and vomiting that ensued were a result of this Multiple media reports have been released stating different things but without the postmortem report and further investigation we canrsquot speculate on anything for nowMany of us have lived through similar fake news and clickbait social media posts during the pandemic But the distrust is not completely unfounded Take the viral ldquofake manordquo scare thatrsquos making the rounds on social media now Around two weeks ago the Food and Drug Administration FDA seized 3800 kg of fake mango pulp made with unsafe food colours in PuneThe FDA ironically is one of the primary bodies that seems to have lost the publicrsquos trust as we are repeatedly told about how understaffed the department is For example Rajesh J Narvekar commissioner FDA Maharashtra gave an interview to a news media outlet saying that Maharashtra needs 1100 FDA officers but has only 130 in total of which 119 are in training Amid this lack of boots on the ground whorsquos going to check food safety at the thousands of roadside thelawalas cloud kitchens and produce vendors The lack of trust has hit not just consumers but also farmers who have seen watermelon prices plummet to a paltry Rs 7 per kg in peak seasonSo how much truth is there to the information that chemically altered fresh fruits and vegetables can cause something as severe as the tragedy that befell the Kadar familyStorage is the keyDr Asna Urooj a professor of Food Science and Nutrition gives easy tips on how to check for watermelon contaminationThe Indian population is humongous and the regulation of food and produce is the need of the hour but we are well aware that there are just not enough people to monitor this Especially when they are stored in regional markets before being sold into the sabzi mandirdquo says Dr Asna Urooj professor of Food Science and Nutrition University of Mysore She is that part of the food world that deals with the DOS Daily Operating Standard or Daily Recommended Value which relates to the benchmarks guidelines and processes used to ensure food safety quality and nutritional valueDr Asna UroojldquoI feel storage is the biggest issue as of todayrdquo she says ldquoIn summer fruits especially watermelon have always been our first choice But any fruit or vegetable is perishable and is vulnerable to contamination Watermelon is also high in sugar In case of contamination with bacteria like Salmonella and E coli these bacteria thrive in the water medium The contamination can happen while it is being transported from soil or water depending on how it is transported or stored which is largely on the floorrdquo she warnsThe journey then continues as it is brought home ldquoAt home we must store it separately in the refrigerator That is why we insist on using a clean cutting board for vegetables and fruits Using the same knife for raw meats especially chicken increases the risk of contamination If you store it openly in your fridge too there is a risk of crosscontamination between the foods in the refrigeratorrdquo she addsAnd what about artificial ripening or colours She has a simple test ldquoWhen buying a watermelon at the market ask the seller to make a small cut and wipe the top of the cut with white paper or tissue If it is allnatural no colour will stain the paper At home you can cut a portion and dip it in a glass of water If it is artificially coloured you will see it leach into the waterrdquoFear mongering at its peakDr Eguru Sreenivasa Rao who is researching watermelons says itrsquos painfully obvious when a melon has been tampered with making it an impractical scamDr Eguru Sreenivasa Rao is the principal scientist Vegetable Science at the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research IIHR in Bengaluru and is currently studying watermelonDr Rao who has been keenly following the Kadar family case is frustrated at the lack of awareness and the havoc social media has caused to the produce sector in recent years ldquoIn general there is false propaganda Claims like lsquopeople injecting fruits to make them juicier or more colourfulrsquo are absolutely falserdquo he saysDr RaoIn fact Rao and his team have conducted experiments during the start of the summer at ICAR to verify these claims ldquoWe did multiple experiments where we injected a food dye into the watermelon but it just cannot be done without giving away that the fruit has been tampered with As soon as you cut open the watermelon the colourant accumulates in one place and that is a dead giveaway Additionally because the pressure is so high in the fruit whatever is injected will come gushing outrdquo he saysldquoWhere is the time and money for people to keep injecting colour in the foodrdquo Finally he adds ldquoThere is no food safety inspector who has come and said that there are colours this is just fear mongering online But this is a real tragedy for the watermelon farmer who has been growing the fruit for three to four months and is now being exploited by traders who are not giving them a fair pricerdquolsquoFertilisers are safersquoDr P K Singh Agro Scientist Indian Agriculture InstituteldquoEven when we use fertilisers or growth hormones all it does is make the produce grow in size There is no harm to you What has happened to the Kadar family is unfortunate But until we learn what the forensic report says we mustnrsquot draw conclusions But itrsquos a myth that farmers using fertilisers makes fruits harmful we should first read up on agricultural science instead of believing fake news The only place a fruit or vegetable could be infected is when it is stored for 20 days or when itrsquos not stored properlyrdquoConsumer speakldquoI know that most of social media is indulging in fear mongering but as a safety measure I am just staying off watermelon for now Even though it is so tempting to use it in salads mdash especially when it has been as hot as it is now and we are on the verge of dehydration mdash my husband and I are swapping it out with other dinner itemsrdquoVinam Bhagat a yoga teacher and Navi Mumbai resident