THE NEXT TIME YOU stop by a coconut vendor by the side of the road, you may want to ask yourself one important question.
Are these coconuts clean?
That’s an important question to ask, because according to Principal Environmental Health Officer Maurice Gaskin, the shell of the popular drupe fruit could be host to several diseases carried by the rats which climb coconut trees.
And as there’s no guarantee that coconuts on sale are washed in a bleach/water solution, Gaskin said a town hall meeting for coconut vendors was on the cards to help promote sterilisation practices.
“[The roof rat] goes up in coconut trees and bites coconuts and also urinates on coconuts . . . . What is important is that when coconuts are sold at the side of the road, we are advising that those coconuts should be washed,” Gaskin said as he spoke at a sensitisation lecture on rodent control at the Princess Margaret Secondary School.
Please read the full story in today’s Sunday Sun, or in the eNATION edition.
