Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with shouldieatthis

Yet another "should I eat this?": black beans

k. — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:33:13 -0800

Should I Eat This? Filter: cooked black beans left in a pot overnight. Yesterday I was waiting for the pot to cool before putting it in the fridge, then forgot about it, leaving it there (with the cover on) until this morning when I put it in the fridge. There are no meat ingredients.

please help resolve my tofu troubles

mustcatchmooseandsquirrel — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:43:59 -0800

Can I eat this expired (but frozen) tofu/tempeh/tofurky? I just moved into a new apartment and my new roommate's old roommate left behind some food in the freezer. At first I was delighted to be inheriting free food, but now that I've checked the best by dates, I'm not so sure. Details:

Tofurky: "enjoy by" 08/23/08
Yves Meatless Deli Ham: "best before" 02/13/08
White Wave Baked Tofu: 09/02/05 (date has no qualifier before it)
Sunergia Soyfoods pesto tofu: 04/22/06 (also no qualifier)
SoyBoy Tempeh: April 26 (says that it can be "sold frozen for 6 months after date" but, the date doesn't have a year after it and considering the other fake meats, I wouldn't bet on it being 2009)

I do not know for how long any of this was frozen, nor can I contact new roommate's old roommate to ask.

So...can I eat any of this? If it were anything else, I'd probably just throw it away, but I do love fancy tofu products (and very rarely buy them myself due to their fancy prices) so this would be a free food grand slam.

What the fruit?

designbot — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 11:27:34 -0800

What are these things we found in our sink? I found these bizarre things in my brother's sink this morning. Neither of us remembers seeing them before this morning, or putting anything unusual in the sink recently. They look a little like ancient strawberries, but there are no seeds on the skin.

Any thoughts on what these might be, and (bonus) how they got in the sink?

Can mold grow on food packed in oil?

aws17576 — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 16:35:18 -0800

Can mold grow on food packed in oil? There's some "Can I eat this?" context here, but I've fairly well decided at this point not to eat the food in question (some roasted bell peppers that I attempted to preserve 6 weeks ago in a refrigerated jar of canola oil), since having read elsewhere that oil-packing will not prevent the growth of botulism unless the packed food is properly dried and/or acidulated.

But can the white spots which recently appeared on those peppers really be mold? If so, then one of two principles I had thought to be true must be upset: that mold requires oxygen to grow, and that submerging food in oil creates a seal which is impermeable to oxygen. On the other hand, if these spots aren't mold, what else might they be? (Sorry, I would provide a photo if I had a working digital camera...)

Finally, the next time a peck of peppers tumbles my way, what might I do differently to preserve them safely? Is there any way to do it that isn't tantamount to pickling them (and thus changing their flavor significantly)?

Supposedly they have a nutty flavor

granted — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 22:51:03 -0800

I found a bug in my pistachio. :-( Last night, I was spending another thrilling Sunday evening playing Text Twist and eating a bag of Chili Lemon pistachios from Trader Joe's when I cracked open a shell and saw a grub of some sort nestled inside. I shrieked and threw it into the shell bowl. I don't know if it was dead or alive, as I was too scared to inspect more closely. (Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want, but you'll be sorry you didn't evolve a more effective fear instinct when you're dying of trypanosomiasis.) I lost my appetite and put the bag of pistachios away. But now I'm debating giving the bag another go, because I'm addicted to these god damn nuts.

But what if there's another bug? A family? Eggs? Larvae? Infestation? What are the odds that this bug's world was confined to the one pistachio? What would you do? Inspect every subsequent pistachio thoroughly before eating it? They're kind of a lot of work as it is.

Should I Eat This? It should be noted that I had eaten about half the bag when I made my horrifying discovery. In addition, my aversion to grubs is severe enough that if I accidentally eat one I'll puke and never eat pistachios again. AAAAGGGHHH get the thought out of my head!!! (Yes, I know that in some heathen societies bugs are considered a delicacy and/or sold fried from street carts or whatever. That's disgusting. This is America! We only eat bugs if they're enormous and live at the bottom of the sea.)

Emergency need to eat

amethysts — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:03:54 -0800

Emergency should-I-Eat-This! Burger King Apple Fries showing discoloration. I know apples are supposed to turn brown, but these are looking yellow-ish, with somewhat transparent/brown-ish bruise-looking spots. Also, the plastic bag was completely inflated when I went to open it. I took a sample taste and it didn't taste too bad. Final note: I'm really hungry but not hungry enough to not care about food poisoning and I tend to be really bad about being able to judge food-rot. Secondary question: I often get the apple whatevers at Burger King and McDonalds (like the Fruit and Walnut Salad at McD's) Is it meaningful if the packaging is swollen when I get them?

Are these eggs safe to eat?

dubold — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:02:30 -0800

Should-I-Eat-This-Filter: I left a half-dozen eggs on the counter yesterday... They were uncooked, still in their shells, out of direct sunlight. I'd estimate the kitchen was about 70 degrees. They were there from 8am-7pm. When I came home and found them still out, I popped them back in the fridge. The eggs are from our CSA, so they're organic, free-range, etc.

I did a bit of research, and from what I understand, salmonella is only a risk if there's already salmonella bacteria in the egg. To be on the safe side, my pregnant wife won't be eating any of these. Are they okay for me to eat? What factors contribute to eggs going bad? is it time, temperature, or a combination? I understand that the safest course of action is just tossing them, but I hate to waste food.

you are not my doctor, nor will i hold the moderators responsible if i get sick. thanks.

delicious or deadly snack?

waltzing astronomers — Mon, 12 May 2008 19:33:08 -0800

BotulismFilter: Should I eat this? I put some sun dried tomatoes in a jar and covered them with olive oil (the theory being that it would make them like the ones at the store. this was before I learned that I could just boil them). They've been sitting unopened in my pantry since October.

My friends suggested that it might be a bad idea to eat them because they've been sitting in a jar in my pantry for six months. I think that the olive oil makes them safe. Somehow.

Are they safe to eat?

Should I eat this?

donajo — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:16:47 -0800

Should I eat this black bean soup? Yesterday, I made a delicious pot of black bean soup, with the intention of eating it for lunch this week. But of course, after I divided the pot into individual containers, I didn't remember to actually put them into the refrigerator. The key ingredients are canned black beans and canned chicken broth and they sat out for about 18 hours from the time I made the soup yesterday to when I discovered them this morning and stuck them in the fridge. Will I ~~die~~ get food poisoning if I eat it? Am I less likely to ~~die~~ get food poisoning if I make sure it gets really, really hot when I heat it up for lunch?

Bad pork or just a bad smell?

Bookhouse — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:46:07 -0800

Another round of "Should I eat this?" I have a pork tenderloin which I purchased an hour ago at a reputable grocery store, sealed in a plastic bag. Opening the bag, the pork smells horrible, sorta like rotten eggs. Rinsing it off reduced but did not eliminate the smell.

How can I tell the difference between rotten pork and funky plastic-sealed smell? I really don't want to go back to the store or chuck my V-Day meal plans.