10 Million Melons Will Be Destroyed : Pesticide-Tainted Fruit Is One-Third of California’s Crop

State authorities Sunday night said they have decided to destroy up to 10 million watermelons--one-third of California’s entire production--because of a wave of illnesses linked to the toxic pesticide aldicarb, which has been found to have tainted part of the crop.

The decision, which would apply to all melons now in the possession of wholesalers and grocers, was made by the state Department of Food and Agriculture after an emergency meeting of state and federal inspectors in Sacramento.

“All products at the retail level will be destroyed,” Food and Agriculture department spokeswoman Jan Wessell said. “The watermelon crop this season is estimated at about 30 million melons. One-third of these (are) already in the chain of distribution, and will be destroyed.”

Doubt Over Number

However, George Gomes, deputy director of the Department of Food and Agriculture said this figure may be too high. One third of the crop has been harvested, he said, but “a lot of the crop has been consumed; we have no idea how many (melons) were consumed prior to July 3.”

Gomes said officials could not yet assign a dollar figure to the expected statewide crop loss.

Wessell said a formal order to destroy the fruit now in the hands of wholesalers and retailers would be issued sometime today, and also urged consumers to discard any watermelons they may have bought.

She said tainted melons are blamed for at least 70 illnesses in California, Oregon, Washington and Canada, and the number of reported cases is still growing. None of the illnesses was believed to be serious or life-threatening.

Inspection Problem

Wessell said destruction of the portion of the crop now in the distribution chain was necessary because it would be physically impossible to inspect all these melons before sale.

However, she said, the rest of the crop will be inspected at the source.

“Beginning Monday, our inspectors will oversee application of stickers on watermelons that have been sampled and found to be free of aldicarb,” Wessell said.

“Anybody with watermelons in their home should get rid of them,” she said. “The fields we sample and find free of aldicarb will be getting stickers, so the public will be assured that what they are getting is a product that has been checked and is safe to eat.”

Wessell said the three-color stickers will carry the words “Pass California Agriculture.”

She said affixing of stickers to the melons will be overseen by the staffs of county agricultural commissioners and shipment of aldicarb-free melons to retail outlets can begin Monday.

Earlier, state Food and Agriculture officials said they were maling progress in pinpointing the source of the tainted melons. They said melons containing aldicarb had been discovered on four farms in Kern County.

Owners of the four farms where aldicarb-tainted melons were found said they used the pesticide, which was sold by the Union Carbide Co. under the trade name of Temik, four or five years ago while planting cotton.

Target of Ban

Aldicarb is banned for use on watermelon crops, but is approved for other crops, including cotton.

Farm owner R. M. Mettler said he used Temik “five years ago on a corner of land--a few acres--that was at that time used for cotton. Now it is used for watermelons and that is where the tests came out positive.”

Mettler said that when he bought the pesticide he was told it was supposed to leave the soil after 100 days.

But Union Carbide spokeswoman Mary Anne Ford accused the farmers of “flagrant misapplication” of the product and reiterated the claim that the pesticide “degrades” within 100 days after applied to cotton. This rate, she said, was certified through a study performed in California.

“It is highly, highly unlikely that it would be in the soil four years later,” Ford said. “The reason there is no prohibition of a rotating crop is that (the study) doesn’t support such a need. Every indication we have to date is that this has been a violation of the product’s registration.”

No Need for Panic

In recent days, California authorities have sought to prevent panic.

While at least 70 cases of food poisoning have definitely been linked to aldicarb, and 200 other cases are listed as “possible aldicarb poisoning,” they pointed out that there have been no deaths or critical illnesses and the disorder is not considered life-threatening.

People who eat the tainted melons, they said, suffer from nausea, diarrhea, tremors and sweating. They usually recover within 24 to 48 hours.

“This is not going to kill anybody,” said Dr. Alan Tani of the Bay Area Poison Control Center at San Francisco General Hospital. “The levels of pesticide aren’t even high enough to pose a hazard to pregnant women.”