Mango shortcut spoils taste for some

Consumers are being warned to wash fruit after it emerged that city wholesalers were using chemicals to finish the ripening process of mangos sold at Beijing fruit stands and markets.

Experts say the use of calcium oxide is likely spoiling the taste of the popular fruit as well.

Fruit wholesalers working in the lanes of the southern Beijing suburb of Daxing district freely admitted to blending limewater with ethephon to create a "catalyzing wad" of calcium oxide.