Watermelons are one of those fruits that everyone seems to love, and there can be nothing more refreshing on a hot summer day than a big old slice of this big juicy wonder. That being said, there’s something you need to watch out for before partaking in this delicious treat. According to AWM, if you see this when you cut open a watermelon, you should probably toss it in the trash.
One of the most popular sights at summertime barbecues and family events can be the presence of a gigantic watermelon just waiting to be cut open. While most people will lean towards the camp that bigger is better, there’s actually something to be said for things that are just too big.
Some watermelons are growing so massive in size that you’ll find that they are actually cracked on the inside. That should be a huge red flag for you, and you’ll want to dispose of it or risk getting sick by eating it. Over in China, a chemical known as forchlorfenuron has been being used that is known to grow the fruits to an enormous state. That’s led to some abnormalities in the watermelon itself, and some ensuing side effects.
Locally sourced watermelons are your safest bet, but it’s probably a good idea to err on the cautious side if you notice some cracks on the inside.
Cracks are caused by watermelons growing too large and having to soft of flesh, you don't need this retarded chemical, in fact large cracks are characteristic of most darker red/purple melons and are perfectly normal and desirable for the sweetest melons with the softest flesh
Aaron Long
It sounds like a huge wast OP. Can I run them through a filter of some sort?
Ethan Sanders
>Over in China
I'm really curious, what fucking store in the US sells any produce grown in China
Anthony Baker
Let's spread this to make watermelons cheaper for us this year.
Jaxson Lewis
I'm allergic to melons. You and your most popular sight at summertime barbecues can go fuck yourselves.
Leo Clark
>buying produce from China You fuckin around?
Nathan Rogers
Uh, check your nearest walmart, kroger, iga, publix, asian market, etc. Virtually any you can name except whole foods.
Zachary Garcia
Oooh, dat 'er watermel-yon!
Jayden Bell
This is pretty dumb dude. Even in northern Canada we get a lot of produce from china. That being said, our watermelons don't come from china.
Eli Bennett
Just did a bit of reading and no, fresh produce doesn't generally come from china. It looks to be only about a quarter foods that contain an indeterminate amount of ingredients from china and that quarter of food is primarily made of frozen, processed, and packaged foods, as well as various bottom of the list ingredients like preservatives, coloring and spices.
It would be pretty idiotic for companies to buy produce from china considering china is pretty shit for farming which accounts for them buying five times the amount of food we buy from them.
That said, however, some companies have been apparently known to grow chickens in america, ship them to china for processing then re-import them back to america.
Austin Hill
>Re:fwdfwdfwdfwdfwdfwdfwdfw 10 Watermelon Facts That Farmers Didn't Want You To Know
Julian Rivera
>just did a bit of reading Maybe you should go outside and look. For a while in the mid 2000s, garlic from China was practically the only garlic you could get at a lot of lower-end grocery stores. Things have gotten a little better as consumers have started to realize how nasty it is, but it's still extremely common.
Not the guy you're talking to btw.
Gavin Lopez
>eating watermelon from china
I live in one of the most remote capital cities on earth and even we grow watermelon on our door step
Brandon Gonzalez
In general, larger older fruits are less tasty than smaller younger ones. You want to find a fruit that is relatively heavy compared to its size (this indicates juiciness). OPs pic shows a fruit that grew so quick that it split. This is fairly common today, but does show that it was grown very quickly. Again, try to avoid larger older fruits of all sorts.
Cooper Smith
Unless you consistently shop at an Asian supermarket and was planning on buying watermelon from said Asian supermarket (which would be really stupid to do imo) then you don't have anything to worry about
Caleb Walker
>he thinks he's getting local produce because the store is in his neighborhood
You have much to learn my boy.
Austin Brooks
Thanks for the heads up, but luckily my watermelon mostly comes up to me either from my neighborhood farm or Mexico. I won't have to worry about Chinese watermelon. I also cut them up and freeze them, if that helps.
Those guys grow produces locally, that's how they can be so damn cheap. Their relatives manage the ranch/farm and they cut the middleman.
Austin Thomas
seriously doubt that 10lb watermelons that sell for $5 US retail are being shipped from China. Don't think the shipping would be worth it.
As long as the watermelon isn't soft inside or has a big black spooky thing growing in it (looks like a tennis ball) then it's fine to eat. I ate over 200 watermelons, full size, alone, last year. I've seen it all. Please stop knocking your melons and picking the "big one" it seriously doesn't help at all, at least without other checks you do.
>Cracks on the inside That's not how the ones in China are. Those typically come from Mexico and are caused by workers literally throwing these motherfuckers and generally eh-quality seeds from Mexico and Texas. There's nothing spooky about them, they're usually better quality than ones that don't have it (unless they're soft, which is more likely) as they're more ripe (generally).
>More scientifically It's caused by improper nitrogen imbalances in the soil (rarely), over-watering/under-watering (usually the former), and the melons not be pollinated at the right time. The result is a fuck-up in hormonal imbalances that cause the melon to mature quicker (I believe) which then results in the melon advancing past the state of complete solidification and thus a crack is left in the melon which then gets soft and sometimes a little fuzzy due to it's dry-ness as that space is not "part of the melon." It's safe to eat though.
Ethan Lopez
If you don't want this to be as common by the way just buy seeded melons, they're much more likely to be pollinated and generally be more stable so they'll have this issue less, and when it has it it'll be smaller.
Evan Evans
wait wtf is the spooky black thing
Robert Wright
It can either be a nest of bugs, mold, or a second melon trying to grow (like a naval orange does). It's fucking disgusting seriously do not even try the rest of the melon. It's extremely rare as in 1 in 10000+ It'll spook you though.
