It is true that watermelons are pricked with urine. Why early watermelons cause mistrust

The latest reports from the fronts of the fruit and vegetable war are somehow not encouraging. Although enterohemorrhagic has not been found on European vegetables coli and they are allowed to be imported into Russia, other dangers have appeared... Early zucchini, melons and watermelons are especially often poisoned now. Thus, in Barnaul, forensic medical research is being carried out to establish the causes of death of a 17-year-old boy. Presumably, he was poisoned... by watermelon!

Source: RIA Novosti

The first two cases of poisoning from watermelons, which appeared on store shelves, in markets and along highways, were registered in Yekaterinburg. And although there was no hospitalization, these appeals - alarms for all other citizens. It should be recalled that so-called “early” watermelons are usually pumped with urea and ammonia. So far, they mainly sell watermelons brought from Kyrgyzstan.

In Arkhangelsk, three people were hospitalized with a diagnosis of poisoning - a family bought two watermelons on the side of the highway. Dad, mom and six-year-old son were hospitalized. In Yaroslavl, an entire family of four also received serious “watermelon” poisoning. There was no need for a hospital, because those who were poisoned quickly turned to doctors. There are dozens of such cases across Russia.

Actually, this is the picture not only for us, but also for our neighbors. Mass watermelon poisoning also occurred in the Masalli region of Azerbaijan. There, a family of seven people was hospitalized with this diagnosis. So it’s not the European stick that you need to be afraid of now, but the round green-striped berry.

However, from August 1, about 500 permitted melon and melon sheds began operating in Moscow. The sale of watermelons and melons is completely officially permitted there. However, doctors do not recommend immediately “pouncing” on them. Why? Pravda.Ru answers this question Honored Doctor of the Russian Federation, gastroenterologist, Candidate of Medical Sciences Valentin Akimovich Stupakov:

“Yes, the sale of watermelons is already permitted, sellers and places of sale have been verified, etc. But still, I, like many of my colleagues, would not recommend immediately pouncing on watermelons. Wait at least until the second half of August - and enjoy it to your health! Please note, according to statistics, most poisonings from watermelons (and other melons, for example, melons) occur in July, when they first appear on the market. This year, as far as I know, in some regions watermelons appeared almost at the beginning of July!

But this doesn’t happen, the most watermelon time is August, even its second half, the time of, so to speak, “natural” ripening. And here it doesn’t even matter the region where the melon is located - Astrakhan or Volgograd region, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan... August watermelons are considered to be full-fledged everywhere.

The fact is that June-July watermelons are most often “driven”, forced to grow faster, using fertilizers and fertilizers made from nitrates and urea. Sellers want to open the “trading” season as soon as possible. Alas, they often succeed - our people love watermelons, they can buy them in July and even in June. It is precisely during these months that doctors have more work...

Most often (I judge from my own practice) those who have been poisoned are allergic to nitrates. The danger of “early” watermelons, that is, grown by the beginning or middle of summer, is that in order to speed up ripening, they are grown under a film - this is achieved desired temperature, the watermelon becomes seemingly ripe quite quickly.

But for a short time sweet berries simply do not have time to get rid of accumulated nitrates that are present in fertilizers. According to science, permissible norm nitrates in watermelons - 60 milligrams per kilogram. In “early” watermelons, the concentration of nitrates can exceed the safe limit several times. Doctors note that the consequences of eating “early” watermelons can be very disastrous.

Well and frequent use products containing nitrates leads to the accumulation heavy metals in the liver and kidneys, nitrates can cause, among other things, oncological diseases. “Nitrate” watermelons and melons are especially harmful for children and nursing mothers. In children the immune system poorly formed, the intestinal mucosa is easily vulnerable, so watermelon can cause dysbiosis and gastritis.

That’s why any doctor will recommend starting the “watermelon” season no earlier than mid-August. Normal, matured naturally Watermelons (and melons) manage to reduce the nitrate content and gain normal juices just by this time. What to do to avoid melon poisoning? Well, if you really can’t wait to enjoy watermelons right now, then you need to follow at least the simplest rules.

Let's start with the fact that you need to buy watermelons at retail outlets approved by Rospotrebnadzor. When purchasing, do not hesitate to check permits and medical records from sellers. Under no circumstances should you buy watermelons near the road or on busy highways. The exposed flesh absorbs toxins several times faster, so it is unacceptable to buy cut watermelons and melons.

A watermelon brought home must be washed in running water. After this, you need to put the watermelon on the table and let it dry on its own without wiping it! By the way, a very simple way to check a watermelon for the presence of “foreign” substances is to put a piece in a cold boiled water. If the water turns color pink color This means that artificial dyes have been added to the pulp - this watermelon cannot be eaten.

There is an opinion that early watermelons are stuffed with growth stimulants and nitrates, which is common cause poisoning Russia is one of the leaders in growing watermelons - giant berries. Despite this, about 60 thousand tons of watermelons are brought to us from other countries every year. And, as a rule, these are early varieties that delight us already from July. But buyers have more complaints about early watermelons.

Where do watermelons come from? early period? If you ask watermelon traders at the market this question, they will definitely tell you that these are from Krasnodar, because they know that people buy Chinese watermelons without much enthusiasm. Many buyers are not at all interested in where the watermelons were grown, and meanwhile, it is after eating watermelons that people get food poisoning.

Under no circumstances should you buy watermelons near the highway, because early watermelons have a thin rind that quickly absorbs heavy metal salts and mercury. This berry also accumulates nitrogen, which in the human body turns into poison - nitrous acid.

In pursuit of profit, unscrupulous producers are trying to artificially speed up the ripening process of watermelons... Vadim Popovich, Doctor of Biological Sciences, agricultural surveillance expert, said that in order to speed up the “ripening”, people have thought of injecting urea into the watermelon with a syringe, sometimes even the urine of the seller himself. The watermelon turns red, but what about the quality?...

You can judge for yourself what a watermelon might taste like after such an execution.

Early watermelons come to us from Thailand, Ecuador, and Brazil. Experts are very suspicious of products from China; they have already encountered defective batches containing cadmium compounds that damage the liver and kidneys. Agricultural inspection specialists assure that watermelons come in both early and late varieties.

In most cases, the appearance of early varieties on the markets indicates the success of world selection. Ultra-ripe varieties of watermelons have long been developed and are planted in late winter or early spring to please us with their refreshing taste in the summer.

Whether early watermelons are dangerous for human health depends not on the variety of watermelon, but on the conditions under which they were grown. No one can guarantee that watermelons grown in September will chemical composition may be better than July watermelons.

To answer this question and be sure that the berry does not contain nitrates, it is better to use a nitrate meter, permissible dose nitrates – 60 mg. per 1 kg. There is one more folk method watermelon quality check: cut a piece of red pulp and put it in a glass of water. If after 2 hours the water turns color, it means it is full of chemicals.

What are nitrates? This is salt nitric acid, which are contained in mineral fertilizers. Plants need nitrogen to grow and build cells. Once in the body, nitrates irritate the mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines, causing disorders and diarrhea.

IN gastrointestinal tract, under the influence of microflora, nitrates are converted into nitrites. Nitrite oxidizes the iron in hemoglobin and converts it into metahemoglobin, a substance that is unable to carry oxygen, hence the result. oxygen starvation fabrics.

In Japan, on the island of Shikoku, square watermelons are grown. In supermarkets in large cities, such watermelons are sold for $120, which is 4 times more expensive than regular watermelons. What's the "trick"? Watch a short video.

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Photos of a “pricked” watermelon appeared today in social network. The resident who posted the photos regional center reported that she bought a watermelon at the Vatutinsky market.

“There are traces of two injections on the flesh and two small ones on the outside. brown dots at the injection sites,” Svetlana wrote. Some users immediately supported the idea that the watermelon was probably injected with a syringe.

However, the plant quarantine department of the regional Rosselkhoznadzor resolutely rejected the “injection” version: “This is a myth clean water. Such stories have been circulating for a long time. Most often they scare people with bananas containing blood contaminated with HIV. But this is complete absurdity. Bananas are affected by rot that looks like blood, but even if you eat it, there will be no consequences.”

Discussing photographs of an “injected” watermelon, Tyumen residents note that if it really was an injection, the fruit would be unnaturally red and beautiful. “It looks more like an ordinary worm. If I had been pricked, I would have been, like, super ripe and beautiful,” says Tyumen resident Olga. “The same traces are left by insects: bugs, worms, foulbrood, there must be larvae there. This happened once, they exchanged it at a kiosk without any problems,” said user Sergei.

Let us remind you that with the beginning of the watermelon season. So, if after the cut it turns out that the watermelon has sour smell, then under no circumstances should you eat it - you can get food poisoning. The presence of nitrates can only be reliably determined using a laboratory method.

The color of the flesh of a “bad” watermelon is intensely bright red with a slight purple tint; the fibers going from the core to the crust are not white, as expected, but with all shades of yellow; The “wrong” watermelon has a smooth, glossy cut surface, whereas normally it should sparkle with grains.

Recently, employees of Rosselkhoznadzor. The phytosanitary certificate for 10 tons of “striped” cargo turned out to be invalid. The violator was fined, and the watermelons were returned to Kazakhstan.

Don't grab the knife

As the RG correspondent was assured at the territorial center of Rospotrebnadzor in the Yaroslavl region, anxiety symptoms The current watermelon campaign does not yet have one. Businessmen rushed to draw up documents for the right to trade in melons, and every day Rospotrebnadzor receives up to a dozen of their applications. To have the right to confuse passers-by with cries of “Bery watermelon is sweet, sugary!”, you have to work pretty hard.

After the entrepreneur has received permission from the district administration to locate a retail outlet, he comes to us, - he talks about the procedure for issuing a “passport” for trading watermelons Chief Specialist Department for Supervision of Nutrition of the Population of the Territorial Administration of Rospotrebnadzor for the Yaroslavl Region Lyudmila Smirnova. - In order for us to give permission, the merchant must prove that he is not a random person, that is, provide a photocopy of the business certificate. In addition, the package of documents provided must include a certificate of conformity for the future item of trade - it confirms that the product has passed the necessary tests. Next, we definitely require a quarantine certificate, which is issued at the place of origin of the product. If it is registered on the territory of Russia, we trust it, if in the near abroad, we send the trader to our local quarantine inspection, where he must prove that the products were officially purchased under an agreement with a certain agricultural enterprise or private owner growing melons, and not collected anyhow. on an unknown field. After submitting the purchase and sale document, the entrepreneur receives our certificate. Finally, no retail outlet receives our approval without laboratory analysis products for the presence of toxic chemicals, pesticides and nitrates.

To minimize the risk when purchasing a watermelon, Lyudmila Smirnova advises starting the process of purchasing a minke whale by asking to see a sanitary and epidemiological report. It is the size of a landscape sheet, consists of two leaves and has several degrees of protection, including a hologram. If you are presented with such a piece of paper, you can safely choose watermelons. But, as practice shows, not everyone likes such broad gestures, in the opinion of traders, as presenting documents for products.

“The owner has a conclusion,” the saleswoman in a dirty apron responded sternly to my legitimate request. - But the owner is not there. If you don't believe it, don't buy it.

By the way, about aprons. In addition to sanitary clothing, at least a clean apron, the watermelon seller is required to have a medical book with him, which indicates the date of the last medical examination (once every six months), and on page 28 it is written that the gentleman standing behind the counter has studied the hygienic rules of sale, which They are simply crying out about the danger of selling watermelons illegally. It is no secret that such medical books are counterfeited and bought without the slightest problem, and therefore, there cannot be complete confidence in a person weighing a multi-kilogram berry. But even if there was such a unique seller who would go to work every day in a freshly washed, starched robe, wash his hands with soap and disinfect his knife, it is still not recommended to make “hara-kiri” watermelon in a sales tent. Its peel, which has experienced the agronomic care of the manufacturer (and nothing grows without a certain dose of fertilizer), which has seen the numerous hands of loaders, dirty train cars and truck vans, is strewn with so many microbes that it simply must first undergo water procedures.

Some sanitary doctors even advise scalding the watermelon with boiling water or washing it with soap. By the way, during such a “bath” you can find out how ripe the watermelon you got: a ripe “tailed striped” one will float in the water, an unripe one will drown.

Stomachs don't hurt

Despite the abundance of striped natives of the Astrakhan region on city streets, the real watermelon season has not yet arrived. Early appearance Many people traditionally associate these false berries on the shelves with numerous tricks of producers and traders who want to “open the hunt” earlier than nature’s deadline.

What is true is true: some stuff watermelons with saltpeter, others syringe them with potassium permanganate, and still others place in vans with unripe watermelons certain capsules or cylinders with ethylene gas, which promotes rapid reddening of the watermelon insides. Last method is the safest, since ethylene is a natural phytohormone and is released, for example, by rotten fruits, as a result of which unripe fruits placed next to rotten fruits ripen faster. But the “bouquet” of such a watermelon, of course, will still not be the same.

There are several signs that allow you to identify the “chemist” in a watermelon, not in a laboratory setting, but right at the counter or, at worst, at home. A berry full of nitrates spoils faster, and dark, soft areas quickly appear on its peel. This watermelon’s “inside” is bright red, even with a purple tint, and the seeds are surprisingly white. The fibers that permeate the pulp are white or pink in a natural watermelon, but yellow in a “chemical” one. In the red pulp, yellowish lumps may be visible - it is in them that they are especially large quantities nitrates are concentrated. The pulp of a pure watermelon, dropped into a glass of water, causes the liquid to become cloudy, and the “chemist” will color the water red or pink.

And yet, it is, of course, impossible to say that the minke whales sold today are all entirely worm-eaten.

Now there are a lot of early ripening varieties,” explains Lyudmila Smirnova. “Neither last year, nor the year before, nor this season, although it is just beginning, we did not find any pesticides or nitrates in the batches of products provided for analysis. It is possible, of course, that they provide one product for analysis and sell another, but we received the same result as a result of our raids on retail outlets, which we regularly conduct during the melon and melon trading season. And in such cases, you will agree, the element of surprise plays a big role. In the 25 years that I worked in sanitary and epidemiological inspection, I remember only a few cases of detection of nitrates in watermelons. This was about seven or eight years ago.

Of course, Lyudmila Smirnova agrees, much still remains on the conscience of entrepreneurs and sellers. If you try really hard, you can deceive anyone. But also regional statistics intestinal diseases speaks not in favor of the version about the dominance of striped “chemists” on the shelves: the numbers, according to Lyudmila Valentinovna, are quite moderate, and this is the first sign of relative nutritional well-being.

In short, the devil is not as scary as he is painted to be. And yet, experts do not advise running headlong for a watermelon in early August - the taste of the early-ripening melon natives is unlikely to please. The “bouquet” of an Astrakhan resident who has lain in the sun for 80-90 days is incomparable with the empty taste of his early relative, who has been sunbathing for only 50 days.

Savages on the side of the road

However, the above-mentioned well-being concerns only the so-called organized traders, who according to all the rules issue permits and pass watermelon tests. In parallel with them, a large army of “underground workers” earns their ruble, or rather, dollar, spitting on everything and everyone and luring buyers more low prices. They are chased away and fined by the police, but, having left one gateway, they soon settle down in another. Here, on trays as early as the watermelons themselves, you can buy anything, including “chemist”.

A law-abiding watermelon merchant sells at stationary sites, often arranged in the form of a metal cage, while an illegal trader sells, most often from cars, at the entrance to cities, near highways. If your mouth waters at the sight of Astrakhan residents being sold on the road, it’s better to be patient and get to some trusted retail outlet.

Unfortunately, not everyone knows that watermelon is somewhat similar to a mushroom - it absorbs all the nastiness that is in the air in the same way. Even if the minke whale was brought from the melon plant completely clean and innocent, after lying for a long time near a busy highway, it will certainly become dangerous to health.

It is better to give preference to dark specimens with lighter stripes. The more contrast the colors, the better. There should be no plaque on the peel.

A ripe watermelon buzzes loudly when tapped, while a green one “keeps silent.” If you squeeze a watermelon with your hands, the ripe one will begin to crack slightly, while the green one will again remain dull and mute.

It’s good if the watermelon has rested on its side, that is, it has a small yellow spot- the place where the berry came into contact with the ground. This means that the minke whale matured, lying on the bed, without outside help. But too much big spot, on the contrary, promises poor taste - such spots are formed with a lack of heat and sun.

Many are sure that the drier the tail, the sweeter than watermelon. The tail should be dried, but not resemble a specimen from a herbarium, because this means that the watermelon was taken away from its native melon patch a long time ago and it has been waiting too long for a buyer.

As a rule, “girls” are especially sweet - watermelons with a wider circle at the “pole” opposite the tail.

And finally, it is imperative to check the integrity of the peel, whether there are any rotten spots, cuts or dents on it. A small soft spot with a dot in the center may indicate that the minke whale has been given injections.

Watermelons are an effective diuretic and choleretic agent, they are useful to eat for gout, arthritis, atherosclerosis, obesity, liver and gallbladder diseases, since the fiber they contain helps remove cholesterol from the body. Watermelon pulp is also recommended for anemia, heart defects, and nosebleeds.

Meanwhile, watermelon is contraindicated for certain ailments. So, it should not be consumed by diabetics, because it contains high content Sahara. It is not recommended for pregnant women to eat it either. The point is that on later During pregnancy, the fetus constantly puts pressure on the pelvic organs. Squeezing Bladder and so leads to frequent urination, and then there’s an additional burden.

Since watermelon can cause flatulence, intestinal colic and promotion blood pressure, it is not advisable to eat it in large quantities for people suffering from gastrointestinal problems and hypertensive patients. Doctors advise such patients to eat watermelon only in small doses and always separately from other foods.

If watermelons are grown in compliance with all rules and technologies and are stored in normal conditions, then they should not contain substances hazardous to the body. However, in Lately they are increasingly being “fed” with nitrates. Especially dangerous in this regard are early watermelons, which are sold in June and July. They are given saltpeter injections to help them mature faster.

But even if the watermelon is not nitrate, there is a constant risk that it has absorbed harmful and toxic compounds from environment, because watermelons are often sold by the side of the highway and stored in inappropriate conditions. For example, they may contain high concentration heavy metals.

It is generally better not to give watermelons to children under three years of age - at this age digestive system very sensitive to any kind of toxins. For kids who have already reached three years old, you can give watermelon pulp in an amount not exceeding 100 g per day. The same goes for pregnant women.

Watermelon is traditionally considered effective means for weight loss. However, doctors have found that if you replace a third of your usual diet with watermelon pulp for 12 days, then a lot of vitamins, mineral salts and other valuable substances will be excreted from the body along with urine.

That's why to watermelon diet should be treated with caution. If you want to normalize your weight, it will be enough for you to consume about 300-800 g of watermelon pulp daily, and in between main meals. Another option is to arrange fasting days 1-2 times a week. These days you can only consume up to 2 kg of watermelon pulp or up to 2 liters of juice, as well as drinking water.

To prevent watermelon from causing harm, you should choose it carefully. A ripe watermelon has a shiny rind, a dry tail, it rings when tapped, and there is always a yellow spot on the side. If there are holes in the rind, then most likely the fruit was injected with saltpeter, and this watermelon can cause poisoning. Now there are special devices - nitrate meters - with which you can check the fruit for nitrate content before purchasing. It is also advisable to buy watermelons from trusted sellers to exclude the presence of toxic substances.