Bananas ~ Be cautious !!!

Adrian Wong · Jan 18, 2011

Received yet another e-mail to debunk. This time, it's about bananas. Check it out :

Let's be cautious.......

At the rate of RM 2/- a dozen, death is being sold now-a-days in our markets. My request for everybody is to be vigilant.

Friends, we all love bananas and we eat a lot of them, but the bananas available in the market are forced ripe by dipping in water mixed with Carbide. The consumption of these bananas is 100% sure to cause Cancer or some other infection in the stomach. Therefore such bananas are to be avoided totally.

But, how does one recognize the bananas ripened with the help of Carbide?
Bananas which are ripened naturally are dark yellow and there are small black spots here and there on the bananas and the stalks are black.
While those which are forced ripe with Carbide are lemon yellow and their stalks are green and moreover they are clear yellow without any black spots.

Now, what is Carbide and how is it harmful? Carbide is a chemical which if mixed with water, emits heat and the heat emitted by a Close tank mixed with Carbide is even more than that emitted by a LPG Cylinder, so much so it can be used for Gas Cutting (which means the calorific value is so high that it can replace LPG gas).

In the same way, when the bananas are dipped in the water mixed with Carbide, the gas gets absorbed into the bananas and they get ripe. However, the banana vendors are not that literate and so they do not know the exact proportion of Carbide to be used for a dozen of bananas.

As a result they end up using excess quantity of Carbide which gets absorbed into the bananas and ultimately enters our stomach. Due to this excess use of Carbide, Tumors can be formed in our digestive system.

So, next time you purchase bananas, make sure you select the naturally ripened ones.

Please pass it on to others in your mailing list…
Click to expand...

Well, what do you think? Is the e-mail believable? Sounds pretty credible, doesn't it? But the truth is... it's NOT. This was my reply :

Indeed, one should be cautious... not of real bananas, but human bananas who come up with such nonsense.

Ripe bananas cannot last long, so bananas are intentionally picked while they are still green so they can be shipped. Like many fruits, bananas are ripened at the final destination by being gassed with ethylene. Here’s a quote on the ripening process :

Once inside the ripening warehouse the temperature is raised and a small amount of ethylene gas is introduced mimicking the natural conditions in the tropics. This process ‘awakens’ the bananas. Typically it will take from three to five days for the bananas to begin ripening. Once the bananas are ‘awakened’ they cannot be put back ‘to sleep’, not even by lowering the temperature and removing the ethylene gas.

Once this ripening process begins the bananas are then removed from the ripening warehouse and transported by truck to your local supermarket.
Click to expand...

Calcium carbide is used in some countries to ripen bananas but not by dipping the bananas in water mixed with carbide. Calcium carbide will form acetylene when dissolved in water. It is the acetylene gas that acts to ripen the bananas, just like ethylene gas.

Calcium carbide is not a ripening agent, whether it’s mixed with water or otherwise. Mixing calcium carbide with water is also an exothermic process, which creates heat and will probably damage the bananas. So it doesn’t make sense to dip the bananas in water containing dissolved calcium carbide.

If this banana of a writer is correct in that consumption of such “artificially-ripened” bananas will 100% cause cancer or some other infection in the stomach, then we would all have cancer (or some other infection) in our stomach because most bananas are artificially ripened, and we would most certainly have consumed more than a couple in our lives.

Of course, that writer is spouting utter nonsense. The statement that the “consumption of these bananas is 100% sure to cause Cancer or some other infection in the stomach” shows just how ignorant he/she is. It is obvious from the phrasing that he/she assumes that cancer is a kind of infection. Needless to say, it ‘s not.

Finally, there is no way calcium carbide will be absorbed by the banana. As stated above, calcium carbide reacts with water to form acetylene gas and calcium hydroxide. If the banana is actually dipped in water containing dissolved calcium carbide, only calcium hydroxide would likely to stick to the skin. Calcium hydroxide is not toxic and is used in many food products.
Click to expand...

Log in or Sign up

Bananas ~ Be cautious !!!

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

Bananas ~ Be cautious !!!

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Share This Page

Useful Searches