WARNING - URINE in MELONS

(Sofia, Bulgaria) Authorities have issued an official warning to consumers to use extra care when purchasing watermelons since it became known that some producers have been injecting the melons with urine to hasten ripening.

Watermelons have gone on sale in the country weeks before they would usually be ripe enough to put on shop shelves and some people have raised suspicions about how growers have managed to get their fruits to ripen so quickly.

Experts have said some local manufacturers might have used urine injections. Urine contains ammonia in certain combinations which facilitates ripening, they said. Using urine would also be costless for producers.

Director of the Sofia Fruit and Vegetable Market Alexander Yocev said, "It is possible that some manufacturers are doing these things. It's not harmful to a person's health, but of course it's not fair on consumers."

Bulgarian officials have additional concerns with the food industry in the areas of safety, quality, and competitiveness. An estimated 70% of the Bulgarian food industry firms will have to be closed after the country joins the European Union in 2007 because they don't match the EU standards. The head of the Association of the Food and Beverage Industry, Alexander Yotsev, stated:

"Only 3% of the Bulgarian food industry enterprises fully match the EU standards,"[and]

"Most threatened are the small firms in the dairy and canning industry," he said.

It may take many years before any substantive quantities of food products are exported from Bulgaria. Caveat Emptor!