"Almost Died from Breathing Difficulty After Eating a Banana"... What Was the Hard 'Foreign Object'?

Some Solidified During Ripening at Room Temperature
Importer: "This Is the First Time Such an Incident Has Occurred"

A consumer's story was revealed about receiving hospital treatment after a hard foreign object that came out from inside a banana got stuck in their throat. The banana import company explained that the foreign object was a part of the banana that had hardened during the ripening process at room temperature.

According to Yonhap News on the 9th, Mr. A (48), who lives in Gyeongnam, purchased a bunch of bananas at a convenience store around 9:30 p.m. on the 23rd of last month and was eating them when he suddenly felt a hard foreign object stuck in his throat. Soon after, Mr. A experienced difficulty breathing, bent over, and after coughing and vomiting, he barely managed to spit out the foreign object stuck in his throat. He recalled the moment as a crisis, thinking "I'm going to die" even though it was brief.

Foreign substance found in the banana eaten by informant A. The photo shows the condition about two days after the informant spat it out.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The foreign object measured 3 cm in length and 1 cm in width, larger than a banana seed, and was so hard that it would not break even with considerable force. Due to this, Mr. A suffered injuries and inflammation in his throat and experienced such severe pain that swallowing saliva was difficult, leading him to receive outpatient treatment for three days.

Mr. A called the company that imported and sold the bananas to ask why such a foreign object appeared and what it was. At first, upon seeing the object, he assumed it was a banana seed. However, the foreign object inside the banana was not a seed but a part of the banana that had hardened.

A representative of the company, which holds 26% of the domestic banana distribution market, stated, "This is the first time such an incident has occurred. The bananas we sell are a seedless variety, so the foreign object is not a seed." The representative further explained, "Our in-house quality team analyzed it and concluded that when bananas are stored at room temperature, they ripen and turn yellow, and this foreign object is the result of the banana drying out during that process." He also added that the company fully compensated the customer for the medical expenses.

Mr. A told Yonhap News, "Bananas are very soft fruits that many children and elderly people eat, but if you are unlucky, dangerous incidents like mine can happen." He added, "I wanted to inform the media so that others will chew well and be careful when eating fruit."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.