Chinese Watermelons ‘Exploding’

 The use of a chemical that prompts plant growth may have contributed to overripe watermelons bursting in their fields in eastern China, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

More than 700 mu (47 hectares or 115 acres) of melons in the city of Danyang in Jiangsu province were ruined when they burst open, Xinhua reported yesterday. The chemical forchlorfenuron may have caused some of the watermelons to burst, the news service reported, citing Wang Liangju, a professor at Nanjing Agricultural University. Heavy rainfall after a recent drought may have also contributed, according to the report.

“I have never seen this phenomenon,” said Bob Morrissey, executive director of the U.S. National Watermelon Association in Lakeland, Florida. “Watermelons do not burst only from rainfall.” The U.S. allows forchlorfenuron to be used for growth of grapes and kiwifruit and the chemical isn’t classified in China as an illegal food additive.

China has increased inspections and made food safety a metric for grading the performance of local government officials in a bid to prevent cases of contamination from fueling social unrest. The sale of milk powder tainted with the chemical melamine killed at least six children in 2008, prompting the government to execute two people involved in the scandal and form a food-safety commission led by Vice Premier Li Keqiang.