It’s been a difficult few months for food safety. Trader Joe’s falafel may contain rocks. Their broccoli cheddar soup is full of bugs. And now, people across the country are reporting watermelons exploding on their kitchen counters.
Award-winning nutrition expert Toby Amidor told KNX In Depth's Charles Feldman and Rob Archer there’s a simple explanation.
“There’s bacteria in the watermelon crop,” she explained. “It shouldn't be there, but it happens because it's in the soil and there's bacteria in the soil.”
That bacteria starts to ferment the natural years and sugars inside the watermelon. That process can continue while the melon’s sitting on your kitchen counter, especially if you live in a hot climate, where temperatures are more favorable for bacteria to grow.
And when you slice into the fruit and disturb all the built-up CO2 from the fermentation…it goes boom.
“If you cut into it, you’ll see there’s some foam or some gas,” Amidor said. “Because it’s gas coming out. Think of it almost like a cork.”
Amidor recommends closely inspecting a watermelon before you buy it to make sure there’s no visible foam, which could be a sign of bacterial growth. And when you get home, pop that melon in the refrigerator.
“Given that it’s really warm temperatures, that room temperature in your kitchen may continue that fermentation process,” she said.
If your melon does explode, don’t eat it. The bacteria inside can be dangerous.
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