Attack of the Killer Bananas?

According to the BBC News, a frightening rumor has spread via text messaging that common bananas from China can kill people. Bananas. Yes, you heard that right. Bananas from China are now under investigation as a possible lethal source of SARS.

The text messages state that the reported virus in the bananas is very similar to SARS, the respiratory illness that killed thousands of people worldwide. SARS is a viral pneumonia that can progress to respiratory failure and is often characterized by high fever, malaise, dry cough, and shortness of breath. There has been one major epidemic which occurred between November 2002 and July 2003. There were over eight thousand known cases of the disease at that time and over seven hundred people died. It is reported that SARS reportedly originated in Guangdong Province, China and was spread to other countries by an American businessman traveling from China to Singapore. At that time, residents of China and other Asian countries donned masks for protection against the deadly virus.

According to dealbreaker.com, local banana producers in China are losing a considerable amount of money (up to 20 million yuan ($US2.6m) a day) because no one is buying bananas because of the SARS scare. If you remember, a few months ago all the talk was about the Chinese contaminated wheat gluten with melamine. Melamine is a chemical used for plastics which sickened and killed many American pets in March. People are becoming scared again because before this it was only dogs and cats who had died, but this time it's not dogs and cats at risk. This the rumor of death is for humans. And this time, it's the common yellow banana.

Earlier this year, there was a rumor of Chinese bananas causing cancer, and earlier this month poisonous toothpaste supposedly was imported to Central America.

According to freshplaza.com, United States food makers have avidly been looking for bargains in China and other countries, and have more than doubled their business by dealing with these low cost countries. American profits have soared because of the cheap food supply, and many believe that the safety of the American food supply is suffering as a consequence. Also, one inspector remembers how a supplier drove a truck over tea leaves to dry them out with exhaust and this exhaust leached lead into the tea leaves. Possibly now someone in the United States is drinking this tea with lead and it could be your mother, your father, your kids or even you.