Can I Eat This? Torn Birds Eye Fish Fingers Cardboard Box

November 4, 2020 1:50 AM

My Birds Eye frozen fish fingers cardboard box has a large slit in it. Should I eat the fish fingers inside?

I had a box of Birds Eye fish fingers delivered two days ago. I recall thinking that the box was somewhat defrosted/crumpled when I stowed it away in the freezer.

Today, when I took it out for cooking, I noticed a large slit in the cardboard box which I hadn't noticed before. If the fish fingers had been wrapped in plastic inside, I wouldn't have hesitated to eat them. As it is, only the cardboard box stood between the fish fingers and the outside world.

I had been planning to bake them in my temperamental and faulty oven (temperature control is no longer working so I'm not sure how hot the oven actually gets). Would you eat this, especially given that my oven is not working properly and may not get hot enough to kill any bacteria or whatever? Or maybe pan-frying them would be safer? Or is it trashcan time?

I would have asked for a refund if I had noticed earlier.

posted by whitelotus to Food & Drink (7 answers total)

I would pan fry them without hesitation.
posted by PardonMyFrench at 2:41 AM on November 4, 2020 [3 favorites]

I wouldn't think twice about eating this. I mean, I guess they could have gotten a little dirty, and they might be a bit more freezer-burned than they would be otherwise? A cardboard box is going to be somewhat leaky even if it's completely intact. And lots of foods get dirty. Like, I eat potatoes that have been rolling around in dirt and touched by who knows how many workers and shoppers before I get to them.

If you heat these to a normal fish-finger temperature I think you're fine.
posted by mskyle at 4:57 AM on November 4, 2020 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I'd eat this. What probably happened was the box was slit by a box-cutter when the fish fingers were taken off the pallet. I've had this happen with deliveries (we are getting deliveries because my partner's health is very fragile) and I've eaten the stuff. It's vanishingly unlikely that they are contaminated in any meaningful way. Also your oven is probably going to get them over 160 degrees, which should take care of a lot of stuff. Would eat.
posted by Frowner at 6:14 AM on November 4, 2020 [9 favorites]

It may not be too late to ask for a refund - especially on frozen food - and if you throw them out you should ask for one. I would eat these and still use the oven if they are breaded. Leave them in for maybe 5-10 minutes longer than the box suggests but keep an eye on them.
posted by soelo at 7:29 AM on November 4, 2020

There is nothing wrong with these at all.
posted by turkeyphant at 5:21 PM on November 4, 2020

Response by poster: Frowner: That's an interesting perspective! The long slit does look exactly like it was made by a box cutter but I know it wasn't me because the groceries had arrived in plastic bags instead of a box so I hadn't needed to take a box cutter to them at all.
posted by whitelotus at 6:29 PM on November 4, 2020

You've probably already eaten these but I want to 2nd the box cutter theory -- I worked in a grocery store for years in high school/college, and box cutters were the standard method of opening up deliveries. Any time I see a straight slice in a grocery store bag/box, I immediately assume it's from a worker opening up boxes and doing a shelf stock.
posted by jabes at 9:15 AM on November 5, 2020