Unopened unrefrigerated veganaise - keep or toss?

October 17, 2019 9:22 PM

I had a jar of veganaise in my refrigerator. PG&E turned my power off for two days. I cleaned out my fridge and freezer after the power came back on, and took the veganaise out of the fridge, thinking I needed to toss it. Realized the jar was still sealed with the plastic over the cap and everything. After leaving it out for a few days, I put it back in the fridge. Toss? Keep?

I know that if it had been open, I'd need to toss it, but since it wasn't, I'm not sure how to proceed. Links to actual government- or official-guidance preferred; if it's just your opinion, please back it up with actual experience or else reasonable evidence. Thanks!

posted by lazuli to Food & Drink (15 answers total)

Is it stored in the fridge or on the shelf in the supermarket? If it is sold from the shelf, and it's never been opened it is shelf-stable and provided that it is still in-date it is fine.
posted by cholly at 9:30 PM on October 17, 2019 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Is it stored in the fridge or on the shelf in the supermarket? If it is sold from the shelf, and it's never been opened it is shelf-stable and provided that it is still in-date it is fine.

That is totally my question! This is the first jar of veganaise I have ever bought and I have no idea!
posted by lazuli at 9:32 PM on October 17, 2019

I do not know if it is okay or not at this point, but at the store where I buy it, it is sold from a refrigerator case.
posted by augustinetill at 9:43 PM on October 17, 2019 [2 favorites]

This is totally anecdotal, but my grocery store sells in in the refrigerated section, and all other shelf-stable mayo products are in a different aisle. I didn’t find anything definitive on my internet search, but I did find a store that doesn’t ship vegenaise during summer months due to temperature control issues, and this site says that it has no preservatives and has to be refrigerated, even before opening the jar. I’d call Follow Your Heart tomorrow, but I’m guessing you’d be better off throwing it out and picking up a new one.
posted by Champagne Supernova at 9:47 PM on October 17, 2019 [1 favorite]

If the label says "refrigerate after opening" then it is safe to keep at room temperature before opening.

Best Foods Vegan Mayo is sold unrefrigerated and says "refrigerate after opening" but I don't know how similar it is to your veganaise.
posted by mbrubeck at 9:47 PM on October 17, 2019 [3 favorites]

Best answer: At my supermarket, it’s stored in the refrigerator case. My jar says “perishable” and “keep refrigerated”. Contrast this with Cheez Whiz, which is fine on shelf until opened and says “refrigerate after opening” on the jar. I would chuck it!

Surprisingly, this FAQ says Veganaise can remain unrefrigerated for 24 hours, but unfortunately that still eliminates your poor jar, based on your 2-day outage figure.
posted by ceramicspaniel at 9:53 PM on October 17, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: The makers of Vegenaise say that up to 24 hours at room temperature is fine:

"The ideal temperature range for Vegenaise is refrigerated at 36-41°F. Vegenaise may remain unrefrigerated (up to room temperature) for 24 hours. However, it is recommended you store Vegenaise on the door of your refrigerator, or anywhere in the refrigerator away from the fan. It should never be frozen. If Vegenaise is stored too cold, the emulsion can break, and separation can occur."

Whether you want to do some fuzzy math on how long stuff in your fridge stayed cold after the power went out is up to you.

Edit: jinx!
posted by charmedimsure at 9:53 PM on October 17, 2019 [1 favorite]

Veganaise original:

(vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, non-gmo) INGREDIENTS: Expeller-Pressed Canola Oil, Filtered Water, Brown Rice Syrup, Apple Cider Vinegar, Soy Protein, Sea Salt, Mustard Flour, Lemon Juice Concentrate. Contains: Soy

You can probably leave that on the counter. Oil, syrup, vinegar salt, lemon juice... A couple of days isn't going to hurt it.

Champagne Supernova's link first question: If I leave Vegenaise® un-refrigerated for a while, do I need to be concerned?

Though we do recommend that Vegenaise® be kept refrigerated at all times, it can be left un-refrigerated for up to a week.

posted by zengargoyle at 9:53 PM on October 17, 2019 [3 favorites]

I think the FAQ referenced by zengargoyle and Champagne Supernova is an old version of the website that’s still online somehow. The address is odd and the latest item in the news section is from 2013.
posted by ceramicspaniel at 10:25 PM on October 17, 2019

Best answer: I will buy you a new jar of Vegenaise. Please throw yours out right now.
posted by jesourie at 10:56 PM on October 17, 2019 [4 favorites]

Best answer:

Does Vegenaise need to be refrigerated? What if I leave it out?

The ideal temperature range for Vegenaise is refrigerated at 36-41°F. Vegenaise may remain unrefrigerated (up to room temperature) for 24 hours. However, it is recommended you store Vegenaise on the door of your refrigerator, or anywhere in the refrigerator away from the fan. It should never be frozen. If Vegenaise is stored too cold, the emulsion can break, and separation can occur.

FAQs | Follow Your Heart® ® 2019 Follow Your Heart All Rights Reserved.

Keep cool, but not too cold. In a fridge, unopened, for 2 days... If you didn't keep opening the fridge all the time... probably just fine. Might loose it's emulsion a bit. The ingredient list in the previous post was from the 2019 site.
posted by zengargoyle at 12:35 AM on October 18, 2019

When we buy it it's from a shelf so it should be fine
posted by Chaffinch at 12:44 AM on October 18, 2019

INGREDIENTS: Expeller-Pressed Canola Oil, Filtered Water, Brown Rice Syrup, Apple Cider Vinegar, Soy Protein, Sea Salt, Mustard Flour, Lemon Juice Concentrate. Contains: Soy

I can't recognise an ingredient that would make one sick if left at room temperature for a few days. They may smell/taste rancid/sour/stale after sustained exposure to an open ambient environment, but there is nothing essentially pathogenic about them as far as I know.

I do know that food companies recommend refrigerating their products even if they don't need it. This allows them to express the notion of 'freshness' while indicating the limitations of their quality warranty.
posted by Thella at 5:02 AM on October 18, 2019 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thank you all! I'm going to go with better safe than sorry (especially as it's since been sitting out for several days), given the website FAQ. I just didn't know if I was being totally ridiculous in interpreting "Keep refrigerated" (which is what it says on the jar) differently from "Refrigerate after opening." Plus I had set the fridge as cold as it could go before the power went out, which does tend to lead to things in there freezing, so it sounds like the poor jar has been through entirely too many temperature changes to be happy.
posted by lazuli at 6:38 AM on October 18, 2019 [1 favorite]

Be aware that just because all the ingredients of a product are shelf stable doesn't mean they'll be shelf stable when mixed together. See for example garlic and oil.
posted by Mitheral at 7:57 AM on October 18, 2019