Tough skin of frozen blueberries at Makro and Big C

[pandora501]

I've been a regular buyer of Aro brand of frozen blueberries at Makro in Pattaya. A few weeks ago I purchased a 1 kg pack and then discovered at home that blueberries in it were different. Their skin was so tough that I had to spit them out when chewing. A week later I decided to buy another pack, thinking that the previous one was just an one-off problem. That new pack indeed contained normal good quality blueberries. Two weeks later I bought another pack from Makro and was disappointed to discover that it contained tough skin blueberries again. A couple of weeks later, a new pack, and the same problem. Yesterday I went to Big C Extra hoping that their bulk blueberries are still OK. Bought one 1 kilo pack there and blueberries in it turned out to be the same type as in Makro now, - with a very tough skin.  I wondered what the reason was for such change of quality in imported blueberries. I've searched on Google and some write that hot weather may make blueberries develop thick skin. I assume all these blueberries are imported from China. Were Makro and Big C duped by their supplier or they just bought cheapest batch of blueberries available in the market thinking that few Thais notice the difference?

[stouricks]

Got some from Tesco last week, 400gm for Bht 99. F..kin' awful, soft, tasteless  lumps of purple s..t!

[Bruce Aussie Chiang Mai]

Aro enjoy you Chinese sh#t grown in Chinese sh#t

[Puchaiyank]

Good report...I thought I had big problems until I read this frozen blueberry thread...I feel so much better now...thank you!

[impulse]

Citing an anonymous source, the paper outlined how the fake (eggs) were made: prepare a mould, then mix the right amounts of resin, starch, coagulant and pigments to make egg white. Sodium alginate, extracted from brown algae, gives the egg white the wanted viscosity. Then add the fake egg yolk, a different mix of resin and pigments. Once the proper shape is achieved, an amalgamate of paraffin wax, gypsum powder and calcium carbonate makes for a credible shell.

 

Seems like maybe a similar scheme for blueberries?  Did they taste like seaweed?

 

https://newsfeed.time.com/2012/11/06/how-to-make-a-rotten-egg/