I got third-degree burns on my face after eating a fruit

Citric acid attack?

We’re guessing this fruit won’t keep the doctor away. A UK tourist sustained third-degree burns across his face after biting into an exotic fruit in Mexico.

“I could not believe the pain just from biting into one case,” Thomas Harold Watson, 28, told Southwest News Service of the strange fruit experience, which occurred on May 1 while he was sight-seeing in Campeche, in the Yucatan peninsula.

The Bedforshire-based construction worker had been strolling through a local market, when he came upon a stand selling cashew apples, the fruits that encase the namesake nut.

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Watson, who frequently shares photos of his experiences abroad on Instagram, had heard you could eat the fruit and decided to give it a whirl.

“You can eat the cashew apple fruit, it’s meant to be a bit bitter,” the Brit described. “I’d heard about it but never tried it in the flesh, so I bought it, went for a walk and started eating a few different fruits.”

It was pain at first bite. “I thought I’d open it up – it felt like a passion fruit, and I bit into this sac which exploded straight away,” recalled Watson.” “Instantly it felt like fire, I could feel this fire going across my mouth.”

The next day when he awoke, his face was completely burnt and “scabby” as if doused with acid, as seen in viral photos.

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“When my lips were all burnt they literally felt like they’d be dissolved, it felt like my lip had gone like baking paper for three or four days,” recalled Watson while describing his Freddy Krueger-esque affliction.

It was so bad that even his hands were discolored.

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Unbeknownst to the traveler at the time, the cashew fruit contains cardol and anacardic acid, a caustic cocktail that can cause blisters when it comes into contact with the skin.

Watson only discovered this hazard via a subsequent Google search, during which he learned that workers who shell cashews can suffer severe burns to their hands and arms.  

Despite his painful injuries, Watson refrained from going to the hospital as he didn’t want to be slapped with a hefty medical bill.

Unfortunately, the recovery process has been long and agonizing. “A couple of days ago I was able to peel off my whole lip, it was a couple of inches wide,” said Watson. “They’re still quite burnt up and not great but way better than they were.”

In light of the painful saga, the globetrotter is warning fellow tourists to do their research before biting into exotic items abroad.

“It’s always good to eat local foods but I guess it’s also good to have a bit of knowledge about them,” he said.