I am surprised the lady was storing the chutney in the fridge - I think there is more to this story than meets the eye. It didn't appear in the quality press or in the broadcast media.

Normally we would not use canning jars for chutney so there wouldn't be any rings. Chutney and jams are not normally canned here except commercially. The usual cover is a cellophane/plastic circle and an elastic band. Personally I use screw tops over the cellophane to prevent evaporation. I am wondering if this was a fresh chutney as opposed to the high vinegar, long cooked chutneys we normally make, hence it's being kept in the fridge.

I've made a number of British chutneys (even have Harrod's recipe book around here somewhere) and my guess is the cook was distracted or somehow erred in the amount of vinegar. Any British bottled chutney I've seen is very high in malt or other vinegar and it's unfathomable to me that it would ferment and explode.

I agree with Flora if it's a fresh chutney (perhaps an Indian-style recipe) then it's possible, especially if the refrigerator is not sufficiently chilled.

Somehow I don't think I'll put this high on my list of things to worry about!

Carol

The article might be a bit misleading. Seems there have been a rash of exploding refidgerators in the U.K. and those have been linked to the use of a new refrigerant called isobutane. It is ozone friendly but supposedly quite flammable and one sources speculates that there may have been a refrigerant link. But then again, that's not nearly as exciting as explosive chutney.

Here is a link that might be useful: UK alert exploding fridges