Can I eat it? Hot Car

September 13, 2023 6:23 AM

I went to Costco in VA yesterday where temps ranged from 60-87. I left everything in the trunk until this morning. One of the cans of cat food I bought bursted open, so I’m throwing out all the cans. Do I have to throw out the ketchup, pasta sauce, or peanut butter I bought?

Ugh I’m mad at myself. But silver lining: this is my first ever “can I eat it” question. YNMD.

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

Response by poster: Edit to add: I have health anxiety so if you think I can eat it can you provide your reason why? TIA.
posted by CMcG at 6:24 AM on September 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

Generally speaking anything that isn't refrigerated or frozen has likely already experienced worse conditions in a warehouse, truck, or shipping container on the way to the store so I'd say all of the non-perishable items are fine. I wouldn't have even thrown out the other cat food cans.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 6:30 AM on September 13, 2023 [34 favorites]

I mean, I usually leave ketchup, pasta sauce, and peanut butter on the shelf in the pantry in my kitchen unrefridgerated, where often during the summer it reaches temperatures of 90 - 100 degrees, and I would assume that it probably experiences worse when it's packaged and shipped and stored and etc, so, I wouldn't throw any of that out.

I wouldn't have thrown out the cat food cans either.
posted by kbanas at 6:31 AM on September 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have health anxiety and toss more ambiguous food than most people do, but I have left nonperishable groceries in the car without tossing them. The reason is that it is "nonperishable." The cans, jars and boxes don't say "Store at such and such a temperature before opening," they just say refrigerate after opening. I assume they are built to survive hot warehouses safely. I especially would not worry if it was only a day. Everyone does that now and then. (I also would have saved the cat food cans, and figured the burst one was a gross canning fluke unrelated to its being in the car.)
posted by ojocaliente at 6:38 AM on September 13, 2023 [5 favorites]

The reason I think you can eat the peanut butter is because at higher temperatures, peanut butter melts rather than spoils, and has a high fat content which tends to act as a preservative. Even if the temperature inside the car got significantly hotter than the temperatures you were stating, the peanut butter will likely be fine.
posted by corb at 6:48 AM on September 13, 2023 [3 favorites]

Small chance of quality issues from getting super-hot in your car, but they used heat to keep all those bottles and cans sterile during the canning/bottling process. Like, when they were processing them at the plant it was MUCH hotter than it got in your car.

Check the seals on the remaining jars/cans/bottles; if they're intact, you're fine. They just got hot.

(There was probably an unusually-large air bubble in the cat food that expanded in the heat and popped the can - I assume it had a ring-pull, and those are inherently a little less solid than a can you have to use a can opener on. If the seals are intact on the other can, you're fine.)
posted by mskyle at 6:57 AM on September 13, 2023 [5 favorites]

Agreeing that the peanut butter isn't a problem since it doesn't need to be refrigerated even after opening. The worst you should see there are some texture issues that might be fixed by stirring it a bunch.

For the ketchup and pasta sauce, they were cooked at a high temperature before being jarred or bottled.
posted by soelo at 7:03 AM on September 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

Isn't that what you do with pasta sauce, heat it up? Ketchup is cooked also in the manufacturing and bottling process. As for the peanut butter, I cook it as part of my secret sesame noodle recipe. Also, I am a cat lover, and I would have tossed the one exploded can and served the rest to my little fluffy.

On the other side, if you are have health anxiety, why not chalk the $30 up to a lesson and toss it all and start again.?
posted by JohnnyGunn at 7:19 AM on September 13, 2023

I'm a veteran food thrower-outer. I would also have thrown out the cat food because I'm super cautious about what I feed my cats and while I'd like to think they'd turn their nose up at, say, botulism in food, I can't guarantee that food that would make them sick wouldn't seem extra tasty.

I probably would not throw out the other items unless they tasted off. I wouldn't worry about the pasta sauce much at all, or ketchup. If the peanut butter was separated and gross I might toss it. I think you're safe.
posted by jzb at 7:31 AM on September 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'm actually really shocked the cat food exploded and suspect there was something wrong with it or the can to start with. Shelf-stable goods are stacked in un-climate-controlled warehouses and hauled in un-climate-controlled cargo containers on boats, trains, and trucks and has been in the sun for possibly weeks by the time you buy it. The only consideration taken is pallet/case-boxing to keep them uncrushable.

It's all meant to withstand this, and tested for withstanding this, because otherwise it would cost companies dollars in lost product. Honestly, that's why we've come to trust this kind of product integrity, because failure hurts companies where they actually care about - the wallet.

The only shelf-stable goods I wouldn't leave in a hot car (or unprotected at a campsite, a more likely concern for me) would be delicate oils (nut oils) that aren't very heat-tolerant, and anything that might melt in ways that would make them texturally unappealing after resolidifying - chocolate/candy, anything in capsules, some kinds of makeup, candles, this stuff often is climate-controlled in transportation and storage. They wouldn't go bad, they'd just be difficult or unpleasant to use.

I have asploded unopened Diet Cokes in my car occasionally, but we're talking Texas or LA heatwave with the sun shining onto the cupholders a significant part of the day.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:10 AM on September 13, 2023 [2 favorites]

I wouldn't throw anything out, except that can that burst . And if you are that worried, take the cat food back Costco with an explanation, and ask for a refund on the cat cans

The ketchup, PB and Pasta sauce- wouldn't even occur to me to throw out. For all the reasons above.
posted by Ftsqg at 9:27 AM on September 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you all! I think I will return the cat food. Planning on keeping the rest.
posted by CMcG at 9:28 AM on September 13, 2023 [2 favorites]

Yeah, Costco will take ANYTHING back. Return it all if you’re worried. (But as others have said, don’t worry.)
posted by staggernation at 9:42 AM on September 13, 2023

If you return the cat food isn't there a good chance they put it back on the shelf instead of disposing of it? Because if you consider it dangerous for your cat to eat, you could be transferring that danger to another cat.
posted by bluecore at 4:00 PM on September 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I thought the same thing later in the day, bluecore. Don’t worry; I’m just going to toss it.
posted by CMcG at 6:57 PM on September 13, 2023