Mangos are a popular fruit in Taiwan and throughout the world. Peak demand in summer means that farmers have to get creative with the growing process. Often that means using artificial ripening agents. However, the Council of Agriculture says that the fruits are perfectly safe to eat!
If you walk through a mango field in Taiwan… you will see fruits wrapped in paper bags. Farmers do that to protect the mangos and make them ripen faster.
Farmer Lai Yung-kun says these mangos have been treated with a plant hormone called Ethephon, which promotes the release of ethylene. That speeds up the ripening process and boosts production.
It’s easy to be alarmed by the thought of added chemicals on our fruits or vegetables, but the Council of Agriculture says it’s safe.
One of the council’s top quarantine officials, Tsou Hui-chuan says they approved Ethephon in 2014. She says it’s a low-grade toxin that breaks down easily in the soil and water.
The government regulates the residue levels of the ripening agent at one part per million. That’s even more stringent than Japan, which sets its residue level at two parts per million. Agriculture experts say officials closely monitor the use of ripening agents. Farmers are restricted from using them three days before mangos are harvested in order to keep the chemical residue to a minimum.