No, there are no restrictions, legal or medical, on eating fruit from a recently fertilized tree. As you say, if they were including some systemic insecticide maybe, but then, that would not be "fertilizer."

Malcolm

Malcolm M. Manners, Ph.D.
John and Ruth Tyndall Professor of Citrus Science
Florida Southern College
Lakeland

I just ate some of my mandarins and lemons that get fertilized regularly and Im still alive and healthy. Dr manners is right that the worker was probably confused about systemic insecticides.

mike

I actually ate some chillies labeled ornamental use only (or possibly not for consumption). It was only after I saw the label.

It goes without saying I haven't died yet.

Regards
Nick

The ornamental peppers are inedible only in the sense that they tend to be very hot. If you like that, they're great!

never heard of that, especially with chemicals.

now as far as vegetables and melons, etc. i always wash them first. ie spinach and cantaloupe e.coli outbreaks.

Thanks, all you guys!

It occurs to me that there are a few plants (spinach, rhubarb) that are "nitrate accumulators," and if you recently fertilized with a nitrate-based fertilizer, or if your soil has a high enough temperature and pH to get significant nitrification in the soil, then the edible parts may have unusually high levels of nitrate in them -- still probably less than would be in a hot dog or other processed meat, but still, an elevated level. Not likely enough to worry about unless you're eating massive amounts of the crop over a short time period, but it could happen. I suspect this may be the source of the rumor, assuming the rumor really is about fertilizer and not a systemic insecticide. However, citrus trees are NOT nitrate accumulators; they quickly convert their available N to amino acids and then proteins, so even with a recent application of nitrate-based N, you should be just fine.

Thank you so much!

Maybe she was refering to manure as the fertilizer. If used on some plants any bacteria in the manure might be transmitted to the fruit. If the fruit was acidic enough it might kill the bacteria, or might not.
Dan

Dan, fecal bacteria is not 'transmitted' to the fruit in that manner. If there is hazardous microorganisms in an animal fertilizer, it can get splashed onto the outer skin of a fruit but can be washed off with a good rinse in cold, running water.