Should I eat this?

July 7, 2024 3:44 PM

I bought two bags of frozen bananas. The bananas contained therein are all brown/gray. Should I still eat them?

I know bananas go brown/gray typically if frozen then thawed and exposed to air So I’m assuming these two bags of bananas were frozen and then thawed thus causing the brownness and then refrozen along the way. I live in Arizona so it’s quite likely that the bananas were frozen and thawed somewhat during unpacking and shelving at the store. Then they were refrozen when put in the freezer section. I bought them, brought them home and tossed them in my perfectly working freezer. I just opened them and both bags are brown/gray banana chunks. Besides looking absolutely disgusting, should they be ok to eat/throw in smoothies?

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

I'm not sure what level of brown/grey you mean exactly, but both purchased frozen bananas and ones I've frozen myself are quite a bit more grey/brown than fresh ones, even immediately after opening the bag or freezing fresh ones. They aren't vaccuum packed or anything so this is totally normal and safe, just not visually appealing. They all taste normal in smoothies.
posted by randomnity at 4:35 PM on July 7

I agree with randomnity. For reference, I made my kids a smoothie today with a banana I froze that was approximately the color of a cup of coffee that was 2/3 coffee, 1/3 milk.
posted by samthemander at 4:58 PM on July 7

Nah, you shouldn't eat them...if only because you could be making banana bread with 'em!
posted by Rudy_Wiser at 5:07 PM on July 7

Response by poster: I think my hesitancy is the store-boughtedness of them. I’ve never seen store bought ones so gray. Home frozen ones - yes. Store bought - no.
posted by Sassyfras at 5:11 PM on July 7

It's possible that some brands do something to the bananas to stop the browning and others don't, or some are more ripe than others. I wouldn't be concerned since it's similar to home frozen ones. If it was actually thawed and then refrozen I would expect it to be a solid block of ice due to the liquid and mushy fruit pooling during thaw. If the pieces are still somewhat separate I doubt it's been thawed to any significant level regardless of how brown they are.
posted by randomnity at 6:50 PM on July 7

Response by poster: They are rather clumped together indicating a thaw and refreeze.
posted by Sassyfras at 7:01 PM on July 7

Best answer: Don't punish yourself by eating them as is. They sound very unappealing. Bake things with them instead.
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 10:07 PM on July 7 [2 favorites]