Supermarket Sleuths: The surprise reason bananas might not taste 'right' at the moment

Some Aussie shoppers have reported a major issue with supermarket bananas: many appear to be ripe, but once peeled are anything but.

The country's most popular fruit – which can usually be relied upon to remain consistent in flavour, regardless of customers' preferred stage of peeling – is now proving to be hit and miss.

While this can leave adult banana eaters disappointed, younger fruit lovers, namely toddlers, may shun the fruit altogether once they have bitten into a 'bad' one.

Anton van den Berg of Harvest Hub explained why bananas appear to be subpar at this time of the year.

"As the weather cools, bananas will get a dull look rather than bright yellow. This typically happens from May to September," he told nine.com.au.

"However, this does not affect their eating quality.

"We always notice this when we get fruit from Coffs Harbour: they take an extra four to six weeks, but they're super-sweet (but also cosmetically challenged)."

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He said some Queensland bananas that are grown on the Atherton Plateau in even cooler conditions may be even more cosmetically challenged.

Western Australian sellers have also been dealing with even more issues with their banana supplies due to Ex-Tropical Cyclone Narelle's devastation in the Carnavon region – which roughly supplies 80 per cent of the state's banana supplies – in April.

However, the impact of this was only felt locally.

"They are mostly going to Perth, I believe. With the high transport cost these days, I doubt whether many – if any – make their way to the east coast, which is already well-supplied by North QLD and Coffs Harbour."

A spokesperson for Coles confirmed, "We're not currently seeing any impacts to banana quality or supply as a result of recent weather events, including Cyclone Narelle."

A Melbourne Market spokesperson has reported "the highest production so far this year in more than five years".

Aldi's spokesperson told nine.com.au: "Customers can keep expecting the same high-quality bananas when they are shopping at their local ALDI.

"While some growing regions have been affected by recent weather, the impact has been isolated, and we have been working closely with our Supplier Partners nationally to manage stock levels."

A Woolies spokesperson reported "strong supplies".

"Our bananas are 100 per cent Australian grown and we continue to work closely with our suppliers to deliver great local produce to the millions of customers who shop with us every week," they said.

While it appears supply isn't the issue, it's the cooler conditions causing confusion for banana lovers, and bananas that have spent too much time in the cold can even take on a black appearance before they have had a chance to ripen up.

These unseasonable conditions have rendered the helpful 'ripeness' charts displayed at most supermarkets inaccurate.

The general advice to avoid banana disappointment is to give the fruit an extra day or two to ripen before you would normally peel them. At this time of the year, you can't go on appearance alone, van den Berg explained.

"In fact, bananas that take a little longer to ripen tend to have a fuller and sweeter flavour than the ones grown more rapidly."

For parents of toddlers who have bitten into a less-than-ideal banana during this time and may now be refusing to eat them again, paediatric nutritionist Mandy Sacher suggests taking a break from them altogether.

"Children crave predictability and control," Sacher, author of Unfussy Eaters Club, told nine.com.au.

"The reason why babies and toddlers like pureed foods is they are going to give them the same taste every single day.

"Also, their sensory systems are developing so rapidly and some children are far more sensitive to those changes."

She said if a child does reject a banana, "do not make a fuss" – then you can reintroduce it later, and then you can try reintroducing it in different ways.

"For example, it can be frozen and then dipped in honey," Sacher said.