What you see: A wispy thing at the bottom of your honey liqueur What it is: Clumping molecules! Known as “flocculation,” this can happen when organic materials
Soft spots on strawberries
What you see: Sunken, darker areas on your strawberries What it is: Aging in action Eat or toss: If they aren't showing signs of mold or rot, they should still
Help! My food is eating holes into my foil!
What you see: Small holes in the aluminum foil you used to seal something up and silver-colored blobs on your food. What it is: A chemical reaction! The foil is
Is it OK that there are snowy flakes in this gin?
What you see: Snowy white particles in your gin What it is: Flavor compounds like esters and waxes that have formed clumps Drink or toss? Drink! Nothing harmful
The saga of the soggy spinach can have a happy ending
What you see: Spinach that looks “wet.” What it is: Cell membranes breaking down, releasing water; generally, the leaves’ cells are collapsing. Bacteria may be
Can you eat “goopy” strawberries?
What you see: Strawberries that look “wet” and seem to be coated in strawberry juice. What it is: Not to be dramatic or anything, but the strawberries are so
Can you eat yellow arugula?
What you see: Yellowing arugula leaves. What it is: The leaves are breaking down chlorophyll as they age. Eat or toss? Eat! Nothing unsafe happening here, but
Don’t fear milk crusties!
What you see: White crusty flakes at the top of your milk jug What it is: Dried milk Eat or toss? Eat! Well, not that you need to go out of your way to consume
Spin me into salad! These scars are fine to eat
What you see: Dried out rings running circles around your tomato What it is: Scarring after a growth spurt Eat or toss: Eat! The dry, brown areas may not have a
These white crystals are badges of savory cheese honor
What you see: White dots in your aged Italian-style or gouda cheeses that are clearly not mold. What it is: Crystals of an amino acid called tyrosine. Eat or
Don’t be bitter about these dark, sunken spots on your apple. The rest is still sweet
What you see: Little, dark sunken spots on the outside of your apple; and/or brown spots just underneath the skin. What it is: Bitter pit, a defect caused by
The light brown area on this grapefruit is harmless
What you see: Light brown scars on the peel, in a pattern something like broken lace. What it is: Wind scar. Eat or toss? Eat! This is only a superficial
Center of salmon looks a little mushy or soft?
What you see: The center of your salmon looks mushy. What it is: Lots of things could be going on here, but as long as your fish isn’t smelly, you’re fine. Eat
This eggplant is too far gone, but smaller brown and orange skin patches can be OK
What you see: Brown/orangish colors in your eggplant’s skin. What it is: Likely chilling injury. Eat or toss: The eggplant pictured above was too far gone to
Whitish stuff on chocolate is edible, but…
What you see: A light, whitish/grayish/beige-ish powdery coating on chocolate. What it is: “Bloom,” the result of fat or sugar exiting the “chocolate matrix”
The white fuzz inside your clementine is supposed to be there
What you see: A delicate white fluff in the center of your clementine (or tangerine, or other type of mandarin). What it is: Basically just an airier version of
