Searching for the extremely toxic chemical that helps fruit stay... fresh for a month

During this year’s fruit season, a new “killer” has appeared on the black market of chemicals that are being sought after by unscrupulous fruit traders. Rumor has it that fruits soaked in this chemical can stay fresh for a month.

The dissolved powder can be injected directly into the fruit. (Photo by Nguyen Hoang)

Fruits are dipped directly into newly dissolved chemicals at a fruit warehouse in District 12, Ho Chi Minh City (Photo by Nguyen Hoang). Fruit pickler burns his hand.

Introduced by a trader named T., posing as a person who needs to buy wholesale fruit for resale, we entered a fruit facility at the An Suong intersection, Trung My Tay Ward, District 12 (HCMC). Here, although it was just past 10am, the air inside this facility was already hot, the pungent smell of mango, jackfruit, and durian mixed together. Within just 30 minutes, there were 3 trucks coming in and out carrying fruit, the trading process was bustling, dozens of tons of imported fruit were piled up in large piles.

Having been “primed” in advance, we got down to business and ordered the chemical to keep fruits fresh and delicious very smoothly. Without any doubt, the owner of the fruit warehouse named Phuong (about 40 years old, at An Suong intersection) showed enthusiasm: “Don’t worry, the chemical to keep fruits fresh for a long time is now available in new stock. If you are familiar with the supplier, just negotiate, we will deliver the goods with guaranteed quality.”

Through observation, this owner's fruit warehouse is not very large but the number of workers and customers is quite large. Taking the opportunity to chat with a female worker who is diligently using paper to wrap the mango, she said: "We are divided into many departments, my team consists of 4 people whose job is to use paper to wrap the fruit to prevent it from being crushed. In addition, there is a fruit washing team, a chemical team, a packing and loading team, working continuously from 5am to 12am every day."

We pretended to go to the toilet and turned into a small room with only a tiny entrance. Deep inside, we saw two men and a woman wearing boots, hats, masks and raincoats. When they saw strangers, all three of them stopped working, but when we introduced ourselves as acquaintances of the boss, these workers calmly continued working.

Phuong's fruit farm operates in a very professional manner. First, the men will carry trays of fruit including mangoes, plums, watermelons, bananas... and arrange them in rows outside. Then, three men in the chemical department are responsible for turning on the tap and pouring water into a large, open drum, adding a white powder with a pungent smell, stirring it with a stick, then throwing the fruit in to soak.

Showing us his hands, Mr. M., a worker in the chemical team, honestly said: “Look at my hands, they are burning and blistering. Even though I wear gloves carefully, many days they are still numb and numb. This type of chemical is very toxic, so even the owner tells us not to eat the fruits here. These are sold for people to eat. If the owner and workers want to eat them, they can only go to the garden to pick them from the trees and bring them home to put in the refrigerator to use gradually. If you eat a lot of fruits soaked like this, you will get cancer.”

Strange powder is the “brother” of… herbicide!

Regarding chemicals, after many days of penetrating the fruit market, we discovered that traders use many different types of soaking and spraying chemicals, not just one type. However, the two most commonly used forms are concentrated chemical solutions, diluted in water and sprayed directly onto the fruit. At this time, traders prefer to use powdered chemicals. When dissolved in water, this powdered chemical is colorless and odorless. Fruits are soaked for a long time but do not emit any odor, so it is difficult for buyers to distinguish.

Coming to Kim Bien chemical market (HCMC) to "track" the origin of this new chemical that fruit traders love, we were greeted by enthusiastic sellers. "The above mentioned powder is from China, most suitable for mixing into fruit soaking water. This type has just been imported since after Lunar New Year this year, and is confirmed by "partners" to help prevent spoilage, mold and keep fruit fresh for at least a month. Other people buy it from me for 400,000 VND/kg. But if you have a large demand, I will charge you a cheaper price, only 300,000 VND/kg," a seller enticed.

To please customers, this woman added: "Just buy this new chemical and I will show you how to ripen and preserve many other types of fruit. For example, bananas are the fastest-ripening and most perishable fruit, so I use ammonia or sulfur dioxide to soak them for about 5 hours and then take them out. This ensures that the fruit peel will turn a beautiful golden yellow and will not spoil over time. As for longan, I will spray sulfur directly on it. If it is not beautiful and does not attract the eyes of the women at the market, I will not take your money."

“Nowadays, where can we buy fruit that has not been soaked in chemicals? It will take a long time, decades, to get sick from eating it. Besides, we don’t live our whole lives eating fruit. Eating it occasionally is fine. The most important thing for traders is to make a profit. If we do business without chemicals, how can we compete with others?”, a fruit store owner said, dipping bananas into a bucket of pre-mixed chemicals.

Speaking to reporters, Master Do Minh Hien, Post-harvest Technology Department of the Southern Fruit Research Institute, said: "The type of powder that traders are using contains 2,4 D (herbicide). This is an extremely toxic and dangerous substance. When it enters the human body, it will cause many unpredictable types of cancer."

Authorities are helpless?!

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Nguyen Van Duc Tien, Head of the Plant Protection Department of Ho Chi Minh City, said: "Previously, the department took samples of Chinese fruits for testing, but due to limited equipment, they could not find any toxic preservatives. To test these substances, more modern machinery and equipment are needed."

A representative of the HCM City Department of Health added: “We acknowledge that the practice of soaking fruits in toxic chemicals to preserve them has been going on for a long time and the health department has taken samples for testing many times but is “powerless” because there is no means to trace the source of the toxic substances. Testing for pesticide residues alone can only find 20-30 types, not all of the hundreds of types on the list of permitted use.”

According to Tien Phong