Is improperly-stored salsa safe to eat?
December 17, 2014 7:03 AM   Subscribe

Please reassure me that eating this questionable item is fine! I opened a jar of salsa and the left it (closed, unrefrigerated) in my backpack for a week. Oops! I've been pretty sleep-deprived of late, and so more forgetful than usual.

I just remembered this morning and checked it and it seemed totally fine! Smelled the same, no mold or any visible spoilage.

As this is a fairly acidic food (lots of tomatoes and vinegar) is it "safe" to assume it's fine to eat? It's basically an entire jar and I'd prefer to not throw it out if possible. However, I'd rather have to buy a new jar than die, so I am open to the option of playing it safe if that seems the most sensible route.
posted by i. shishkin to Food & Drink (29 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
For a WEEK? No. Canning tomatoes is a touch-and-go business to begin with, requiring very precise ratios -- and that only means it's shelf-stable as long as the can isn't opened. Do not eat the thing.
posted by Andrhia at 7:10 AM on December 17, 2014 [19 favorites]


Absolutely not. Tomato products are somewhat acidic, but even then, we add more acid to the canning process to preserve them. What you have is a jar full of botulism; please don't eat it!
posted by headspace at 7:11 AM on December 17, 2014 [3 favorites]


Not after a week. No.
posted by something something at 7:14 AM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


I feel absolutely compelled to add to the chorus of NO on this.
posted by obfuscation at 7:15 AM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


There is literally no reason in the world to risk eating that salsa.

Also, how does one manage to open a jar of salsa and not eat from it for a week?! Tell us how you gained such a powerful will!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:23 AM on December 17, 2014 [3 favorites]


Yiiiiiikes a week?! No way at all.
posted by you're a kitty! at 7:35 AM on December 17, 2014


Best possible outcome: you save the price of a new jar of salsa.

Worst reasonable outcome: food poisoning.

Worst outcome: death by pooping.

Doesn't seem like a good lottery ticket.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:37 AM on December 17, 2014 [7 favorites]


Hahahahaha! No.
posted by BlahLaLa at 7:40 AM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


It's not even 9a and I'm pretty sure that warm, week-old salsa is the most revolting thing I will hear about all day. So... congrats?

Please don't eat this.
posted by mochapickle at 7:44 AM on December 17, 2014 [4 favorites]


Just to check — you're talking about salsa (mostly mashed-up tomatoes or tomatillos), not hot sauce (which is actually mostly vinegar), right? I just remembered that folks in some places call them both salsa, but one has to be refrigerated after opening. Really, really has to be refrigerated after opening.
posted by you're a kitty! at 8:02 AM on December 17, 2014


I think the other commenters here are overly botulism-fearful. You said it had been opened already, so there should be plenty of oxygen in the jar. Salsa is fairly acidic. You didn't say it was home-canned, so the likelyhood of it being contaminated is low.

The key: food poisoning is about contamination, and unless you were scooping your salsa with a garden trowel prior to its week in your backpack, I wouldn't worry.
posted by mikewebkist at 8:03 AM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


Just want to add to the chorus: oh heck no, don't eat that!

Shucks, I wouldn't even open it to check at this point --- it wouldn't surprise me in the least if it's both fuzzy and stinky.
posted by easily confused at 8:05 AM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


Best case scenario involves spending a few days in the crapper. Worst case is that it thinks you're its mommy. Throw it out right now.
posted by starbreaker at 8:08 AM on December 17, 2014 [3 favorites]


I make fermented salsa that ferments at room temperature for four or five days. I would eat it. (I grew up in a family that hated to waste food, so we regularly ate stuff that others would probably have thrown away -- and we're all alive and well).
posted by alex1965 at 8:28 AM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


I would look at the liquid of the salsa on teh top. IS it seems thicker or more "slimy" I wouldn't eat it. Otherwise I would do a small test snack and if it seemed fine I would go for it. But I seem to be in the minority. Sickest i ever got in my life from food was from carrot cake, and I believe specifically it was cream cheese icing that had been room temperature for too long.
posted by WeekendJen at 8:38 AM on December 17, 2014


The concern here is the tomatoes. Canned tomatoes run a pretty high risk of botulism. Generally a sign is that the lid begins to dome up, but it isn't always the case. To be on the safe side - throw it out. I would take no risks with week old unrefridgerated salsa.
posted by Nanukthedog at 8:42 AM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


Would not eat, even if I'd been really careful to not let the top of the jar touch anything before replacing it after opening, and had not dipped anything in it to start with. I wouldn't be all that concerned about botulism specifically, since the then-opened jar is probably an aerobic environment, but other microbes...yeah.

I mean, none of us can say it WILL get you sick, but it certainly has had time to grow a lot of bacteria in a week, even in a less-hospitable vinegary environment. The usual route for limiting risk if you're going to ignore MeFi's advice is to boil thoroughly before eating, but seriously.... just toss the stuff.
posted by deludingmyself at 8:43 AM on December 17, 2014


Just for the record, botulism is not the risk here. C.Botulinum is a risk in home canning operations because the spores can survive high heat, and they then grow anaerobically in the sealed canned goods. If you have not contaminated the salsa with soil or unwashed veggies, it's not growing in there. Mold is the more likely contaminant.
posted by beagle at 8:58 AM on December 17, 2014 [5 favorites]


Response by poster: Wow! It seems that metafilter has spoken. I'm actually pretty surprised at all the responses saying "heck naw"; I feel like every other "can I eat it" question gets a lot more of an even split. I guess the week thing IS kind of egregious though.

I blame new-parent brain on most of this, including not immediately deducing that it just isn't worth saving the $1.70 (Trader Joe's Salsa Autentica (definitely salsa and not hot sauce, and has definitely grown mold in the fridge after an extensive salsa sabbatical on my part, but still a bit more towards hot sauce than the typical chunky, sweet-ish salsa one might imagine.))

I guess I was thinking "hey, I don't refrigerate ketchup, this is...sort of like that, right?", but I think I will go ahead and play it safe on this one. Thanks everyone!
posted by i. shishkin at 9:19 AM on December 17, 2014


Nope. I wouldn't do it.

Ugh.

You'd save, what, $6 max? If it was really spendy salsa?

(I suppose if it had a lot of vinegar and preservatives and hot peppers and salt that you might be ok, but really, do you want to test that hypothesis? If you had, then you wouldn't've asked this question. There's something in you head saying nope, nope, nope, bad idea. Listen to that voice. )
posted by leahwrenn at 9:21 AM on December 17, 2014


"I suppose if it had a lot of vinegar and preservatives and hot peppers and salt that you might be ok..."

What you've just described is jarred salsa.
posted by mikewebkist at 9:38 AM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


(Aren't you supposed to refrigerate ketchup, too?)
posted by chowflap at 10:08 AM on December 17, 2014 [5 favorites]


The risk reward cost benefit analysis says to buy a new jar of $5 salsa, but I think you will be ok if you eat it. I do want to hang with the person that could, at any time, have a jar of salsa at the ready in their backpack. What did you do with the chips?
posted by 724A at 10:23 AM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


I love TJ's Salsa Autentica, because I'm not the kind of person who likes chunky salsa. And I've left a few jars of that over the years, and I'll tell you what I've learned: Even if it's lidded, the mold has already set in from the time it was open. Hell, I've had refrigerated jars mold over after they got lost in the back. Usually on AskMeFi I'm in the "just eat it!" crowd, but not today.
posted by Sunburnt at 10:43 AM on December 17, 2014


also: refrigerate ketchup.
posted by Namlit at 10:46 AM on December 17, 2014 [5 favorites]


A week? Ew. Why even bother risking that for salsa? Gross.

And to the other people, no you don't have to refrigerate ketchup. The bottle never says you have to, and it includes artificial chemical crap that allows you to not refrigerate it. Anything that says "refrigerate after opening" cannot be left out for a week after opening. Just read the packaging.
posted by AppleTurnover at 11:08 AM on December 17, 2014


Don't eat it.

(The answer is always "don't eat it". It's just food.)
posted by Sternmeyer at 12:51 PM on December 17, 2014


Guys i seriously just looked at the bottle of Trader Joe's organic ketchup in my fridge. It states, "Refrigerate after opening." so i.shiskin if you get this same kind, FYI.
posted by holyrood at 8:23 PM on December 17, 2014


Datapoint about Trader Joe's salsas: they've ALWAYS grown mold within a week IN MY FRIDGE.
posted by kinetic at 3:21 AM on December 18, 2014


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