Food safety question: Mussels with green, mealy innards?

October 24, 2014 3:08 AM

I have a tub of cooked and marinated Mussel meat I bought today and I have just found that most of the animals are partly filled with a dark green mealy paste-like substance that looks like mud. Is this just roe? Or is it filth?

Details

Brand:
Talleys brand New Zealand Greenshell Mussels, "Cooked, Shelled and Ready to eat"
Genus:
perna canaliculus
Weight:
375grams
Best before:
March 2015

I purchased them today from supermarket and I have eaten and enjoyed this brand before.

posted by evil_esto to Food & Drink (5 answers total)

Oh yum! I love those mussels. Can you post a photo? They often have gritty greenish-black stuff in the crevices, that's (as far as I know) just sand or bits of shell. Partly filled sounds like more than that, though, so maybe to be safe I wouldn't?
posted by tracicle at 4:26 AM on October 24, 2014

Yep! I would (and have) eaten this. I think it's part of the digestive system or something similar. It's fine.
posted by futureisunwritten at 4:31 AM on October 24, 2014

IIRC, it's the liver.

Regardless, perfectly edible.
posted by IAmBroom at 8:54 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]

Yup, eat it.
posted by J. Wilson at 9:53 AM on October 24, 2014

Response by poster: I didnt.
posted by evil_esto at 1:27 AM on October 25, 2014