What you see: A carrot with a white "core."What it is: A perfectly fine, two-toned carrot Eat or toss: Eat! Here's why it's entirely OK to eat a carrot with
Green caterpillars hanging in the broccoli jungle
What you see: Green wormy grubs in broccoli, maybe even left behind in your cooking water (where they probably turned white). They may have also eaten away at
There’s a worm in my turnip!
What you see: A worm thing burrowing in your turnip What it is: A maggot! Specifically, a root maggot. Eat or toss: Cut around the maggot and its trails. The
Black strings in your mango?
What you see: Black veins running through mango flesh What it is: Darkened vascular canals! Eat or toss? Cut around them if you’d like, but the mango is still
Gasp! Weird spots on your potato
What you see: Spots on your potato’s skin; they likely each have a larger outer circle and a dot at the center What it is: An infection of the little structures
You can eat lettuce with little brown spots like these
What you see: Brown dots on your lettuce, especially along the lower parts of the ribs. What it is: Russet spotting! Eat or toss: Eat! This is harmless (for
White stuff just under mango peel?
What you see: A mottled white, maybe gray-ish film just under the mango skin; possibly also darkened areas on the peel. What it is: A scalded mango. Eat or
Sprouting potatoes? Here’s what you need to know
What you see: Sprouts growing from your potato's "eyes." What it is: The potato trying to grow new potatoes! But the sprout may have higher concentrations of
Little white rings in your mango?
What you see: Tiny, white-ringed holes in your mango. What it is: Air bubbles in trace amounts of starchy, immature tissue. Eat or toss: Eat! Depending on how
What’s up with circular scars on the bottoms of some tomatoes?
What you see: A scarred ring around the bottom of your tomato What it is: The scarring is a condition called “catfacing,” which is common in some heirloom
This carrot hasn’t taken a turn for the worse!
What you see: A very dramatically (or not so dramatically) bent carrot What it is: A perfectly edible carrot that hit an obstacle while it was growing Eat or
White, hole-y stuff in your mango?
What you see: White, hole-y stuff in your mango; it might seem like the pit is taking over the rest of the mango. What it is: Starchy mango tissue with air
The mango that looks fine on the outside, but went wrong on the inside
What you see: A brown, possibly purplish color when you slice into your mango. What it is: Deteriorating mango flesh. Eat or toss: Toss! This mango will not
Aged cheddar with a crusty, white smear?
What you see: A smeary white crust on your aged cheddar. You may be paranoid that it's mold. What it is: Calcium lactate crystals! Eat or toss: Eat! Like the
A sticky issue: clear stuff near mango stem
What you see: Clear sticky stuff around the stem of your mango What it is: Sap! Eat or toss: The mango is fine to eat. Clear sap near the stem doesn’t indicate
You can eat sprouted onions — and their sprouts!
What you see: A sprouted onion. What it is: A sprouted onion! Eat or toss: Eat! You can eat the onion and its green shoots too! But, if the onion sprouted a
