The Scientific Committee of the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) has answered this question that arises every summer when fruit pieces such as watermelons, melons, or pineapples are sold in halves in retail establishments.
“Based on the information gathered, in order to make storage conditions more flexible at the point of sale, melon, watermelon, papaya, and pineapple cut in halves can be showcased and sold outside refrigeration for less than 3 hours at places that have temperatures below 25°C in a sufficiently ventilated place and protected from sunlight, followed by continuous storage in refrigeration at temperatures below 5°C, since they do not pose a significant microbiological risk,” the Committee concluded in a report published last September.
However, the document specifies that to minimize the health risk that these practices may pose, it is recommended not to cut fruits that have an excessive degree of maturity or that present wounds or cracks on their surface, since they can be a source of contamination.
The report also recommends that "establishments in the sector, regardless of sales volume, follow scrupulous hygienic practices, especially regarding cutting tools and, in general, all the utensils used (for example, carrying out adequate cleaning and disinfection thereof). In addition, exposure and storage conditions should be monitored (e.g. by keeping food away from sources of sunlight and heat, and properly recording storage temperature), and the necessary measures should be established to prevent possible cross-contamination.”
