No drinks, just Jackfruit: Kerala drivers’ got busted in breathalyzer test, thanks to the fruit

Kerala drivers failed the breathalyzer test after swearing on not consuming alcohol. An unbelievable excuse? Well, no, just the courtesy of a Jackfruit. In a bizarre twist, Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) drivers nearly got booked for drunk driving after failing the regular breathalyzer test, even though they hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol.

Ripe, fermented, busted: The Jackfruit that framed Kerala’s bus drivers

It took place in the Pandalam depot in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala where three drivers were shocked to find that their blood alcohol level was 10, which is above the permissible level for driving. 

Amid all the confusion, one quick-thinking driver remembered something unusual — he had eaten a jackfruit the night before which might be the reason for the confusion. So, without any delay he soon pointed to the fruit as the real culprit behind the failed breath test. But how do you prove that? 

Well, here's where it gets interesting. To prove his innocence, he asked the officials to get another driver — one who had already passed the test — to eat the same jackfruit. Minutes later, the second driver took the breathalyzer, and boom — the machine beeped again, claiming he was drunk too. Indeed a fruity evidence!

Turns out, the jackfruit was a little too ripe and it had fermented just enough to leave the breathalyzer into a bit of confusion, declaring the poor drivers drunk. Now that’s a classic whoopsie moment. 

With that unexpected jackfruit experiment, suspicions were finally laid to rest, and trust slowly found its way back. Turns out, the fermented sugars in the fruit had pulled off a sneaky little prank and not just on the drivers, but on science too! Now just imagine, what if they had finished off the entire jackfruit on the way? No evidence, no alibi — just a bunch of very confused breathalyzers and a whole lot of explaining to do.