What you see: Your potato looks relatively normal on the outside, but when you cut into it, you discover a dark cavern. When you more closely inspect the
Jar lid didn’t pop and there’s sauce stuck to the rim
What you see: You open a new jar of shelf-stable pasta sauce and notice some sauce stuck to the outside of the rim. You open the jar and it makes a dull noise,
Brown spots on grapefruit
What you see: Brown, irregularly shaped splotches on your grapefruit. What it is: Most likely, this is simply an old grapefruit. Some of the cells in the
Onion with a soft, brown center?
What you see: The center of your onion is brown and squishy. What it is: Bacteria is breaking down layers of the onion. This condition is called “center rot.”
Metal lid doesn’t pop when you open jar?
What you see: You opened a glass jar and its metal lid didn’t pop.What it is: If it’s a button lid that was supposed to pop, it’s a problem. If the lid doesn’t
Wrinkly mango?
What you see: A wrinkly mango. What it is: A mango that’s probably both overripe and dehydrated. Eat or toss: Peel, give it a taste and eat if it tastes
Bits of egg carton stuck to shell
What you see: Little bits of the carton stuck to your egg. What it is: Moisture caused little bits of carton to stick to the egg. Eat or toss: Eat! If you
Opened jar of pickles, past its printed date
What you see: Old pickles, past their best-by date. The jar is opened. What it is: Old pickles. Eat or toss: Eat, probably. Inspect, first with your eyes
Curling brown scars on your cucumber?
What you see: A twisty, curly scar pattern on your cucumber.What it is: Likely healed damage from some hungry insects.Eat or toss: Peel and eat! Lacy brown
Round, brown “stains” on outside of pepper?
What you see: Brown rings, marks or stains, but no scar tissue, rot or other damage on your peppers. The rings won’t wash off. What it is: Superficial,
Sweet potato that’s sunken on the outside and has odd circles on the inside
What you see: Orange and white circles inside your sweet potato. Parts of the outside may be wrinkly and sunken; the sweet potato doesn’t seem like it’s
Cucumber with disintegrating core
What you see: A cucumber with a very loose and maybe even disintegrating center. What it is: An older cucumber, likely one damaged by cold temperatures. Eat or
Black inside pepper?
What you see: Black discoloration inside your pepper, likely along the bottom; the seeds may also look a bit ragged, possibly infected. What it is: Likely a
Sweet potatoes turned black after boiling
What you see: Black patches on your relatively recently boiled sweet potatoes.What it is: A harmless chemical reaction within the sweet potato. Eat or toss:
Mold floating in juice?
What you see: Mold floating in your juiceWhat it is: Moldy juiceEat or toss: Toss! Can mold grow on juice? While you might not typically think of mold as
Cloudy egg whites
What you see: Your egg whites look cloudy.What it is: A fresh egg, which packs more carbon dioxide, leading to the cloudy look.Eat or toss: Eat! This egg is
