After 79 days, the tomato looks as fresh as the day it was bought. (Photo/Chinafood365.com)
(ECNS) -- A woman in China's Jinan city bought a tomato that has an amazingly long shelf life.
In August, the woman, surnamed Fu, bought several tomatoes from a vegetable market nearby. One month later, she found one she forgot to eat, which still looked fresh.
Astonished by the "tough" tomato, Fu started to record the daily changes on her social media account. The tomato has since "lived" more than 70 days since being bought.
According to some, naturally grown tomatoes have short shelf lives. Some sellers, in order to preserve them longer, pick immature ones and soak them in preservatives such as formaldehyde, so that the tomatoes look ripe, red and glistening, according to a farmer surnamed Lu.
The incident has caused concern over chemical use in vegetables and drawn attention to the broader problem of food safety in China.
