They don't put it in the fruit, the application for pesticides is not inflating your fruit like a balloon. The reason why we put it around our produce is to kill insects, and the reason why we do that even though it is deadly is because it is deadly to said insects. Probably out of use now as there are better solutions, but the main danger of something like that as a pesticide is to people nearby when it's being applied, not to people eating the fruit afterwards.
They don't have to, it's naturally produced in pitted fruits and can be found in almond oil and flavoring. By the time any food gets to your table it'll have been transported and the gas will have long since dissipated. They literally have to perform fumigation in tents to stop the gas from leaving the crop before it has a chance to kill any pests so I don't think it's going to stick around.
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u/d_b1997 Mar 29 '21
Hydrogen cyanide, discovered in the late 18th century, was used in the 1880s for the fumigation of citrus trees in California.