Can I eat these olives?

August 4, 2022 1:00 PM

Ordered some Almond Stuffed Super Colossal Olives and they arrived at an unexpected time. They sat in the mailbox for about 2 hours, under a southern sun that was basking in a cloudless sky. The jar feels very warm, but nothing resembling untouchable. The olives appear fine, suspended in their liquid. Are these safe to eat?
posted by Brandon Blatcher to Food & Drink (13 answers total)

If the jar is still vacuum sealed, yes I would eat them. Between the point of manufacture and delivery they could have been in any and all sorts of weather extremes.

(But then again, I am the guy who would eat the cooked pork chop left out in the air fryer overnight.)
posted by JohnnyGunn at 1:06 PM on August 4, 2022 [8 favorites]

Best answer: Unless the little popup thing in the jar has popped up, I would feel completely comfortable eating these.

The temperature in the back of the delivery truck is probably not that different from the temperature inside your mailbox.
posted by box at 1:10 PM on August 4, 2022 [10 favorites]

Best answer: Nthing safe as long as the vacuum seal is still intact. They likely sit in warehouses, loading docks, and trucks just as hot.
posted by gnutron at 1:34 PM on August 4, 2022 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Are they in brine? If so that's its job.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 3:07 PM on August 4, 2022 [5 favorites]

Best answer: I feel that, if brined olives stored in warm conditions would hard you, all the people in Greece would be dead millennia ago.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:39 PM on August 4, 2022 [16 favorites]

Sigh. Hurt, not hard.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:53 PM on August 4, 2022

Best answer: They likely sit in warehouses, loading docks, and trucks just as hot.

Came to say this. They survive shipping conditions that are way worse than your mailbox.
posted by rpfields at 5:02 PM on August 4, 2022

Technically all the people who were in Greece millennia ago ARE dead.
posted by bendy at 10:26 PM on August 4, 2022 [12 favorites]

I agree that these olives will be fine.

But I read once that commercial pickles and things don’t necessarily have enough acid or salt content to preserve them properly out of the fridge. Because everyone has a fridge, they are made more to taste than to actually be salty or acid enough to be shelf stable. So I would agree that these olives will be fine because they are in an unopened jar; the brine can’t hurt, but may not be enough to preserve them on its own.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 11:37 PM on August 4, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: They tasted a bit odd, but it might be because I’ve never had this brand. I shall eat a few to get to the bottom of this mystery.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:05 AM on August 5, 2022 [3 favorites]

Keep us posted!
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:39 AM on August 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

I would be happy to test them for you.
posted by charlesminus at 6:18 PM on August 5, 2022

They're fine.

If you think the two hours in the mailbox were a danger, don't ask too many questions about how the olives were shipped, stored, and shipped again.
posted by Nelson at 3:24 PM on August 6, 2022 [1 favorite]