When a KSRTC bus driving force in kerala ate jackfruit before his morning breathalyser check:
A clean honey jackfruit was added to the Pandalam depot on July 18, 2025. A driving force—who’d skipped breakfast—ate 4 or 5 bulbs earlier than heading out for his shift. At some stage in the routine pre-obligation breath check, he recorded a analyzing of 10 µg, above the felony restriction
The driver protested—he doesn’t drink—and volunteered for a blood take a look at to prove his innocence. Curious, officials repeated the test on any other worker who hadn’t ate up alcohol. The primary check was smooth. After the worker ate jackfruit, however, the breathalyser additionally detected alcohol. A couple of colleagues, to start with checking out terrible, then tested superb post-jackfruit, cracking the case
Naturally, the depot team of workers had been greatly surprised—but relieved. It appears ripe jackfruit, specifically while barely overripe, can ferment obviously, generating trace ethanol able to triggering fake breathalyser readings . This wasn’t an isolated case—comparable incidents in kozhikode and Palode had already caused KSRTC to revise testing protocols in April 2025, introducing re‑tests after 20 minutes if drivers cite medicinal or dietary interference
In response, depot government dominated the jackfruit incident an honest mistake. The affected drivers have been exonerated, and management issued sparkling steering, caution employees to avoid foods that could skew breathalyser effects before their shifts
Bottom line: Overripe jackfruit can ferment sufficient to cause false positives. As a end result, KSRTC is now encouraging team of workers to be careful about what they eat earlier than mandatory alcohol checks—a vast improvement in balancing road protection protocols with biological anomalies.
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