What you see: A milky white substance leaks out of your freshly chopped lettuce. What it is: Lettuce latex!Eat or toss: Eat! This is a natural part of the
Can you eat the dark line or “vein” on shrimp?
What you see: The black line or “vein” on the outer curve of your shrimp. What it is: The shrimp’s digestive tract! It's sometimes called a “sand vein.”Eat or
Potato squirts during chopping?!?
What you see: A potato that squirts while you’re chopping. What it is: A potato packing lots of water!Eat or toss: Eat! This potato is just fine. Is it OK
Pitted surface of yogurt
What you see: Your yogurt’s surface looks pitted, with tiny depressions. What it is: Probably the remnants of some tiny bubbles generated during processing. Eat
What’s the string at the end of a carrot?
What you see: A white “string” at the bottom of your carrot.What it is: The very end of the carrot!Eat or toss: Eat! More carrot! Yes, you can eat the string
Moldy eggs
What you see: Your eggs have something unexpected, likely black, growing on the surface or possibly inside the shells. They look like the eggs in the images in
Squishy, foaming, leaking potatoes — eeek!
What you see: Your RAW potatoes are foaming. And/or, when you squeeze one, it’s as soft as mashed potatoes. Other potatoes may be sitting in pools of
What’s the white film on blueberries?
What you see: A whitish film on your blueberries. What it is: A naturally occurring protective coating called bloom. Eat or toss: Eat! That silvery film
Creepy black holes inside potatoes
What you see: Black-lined caverns inside your potatoes. What it is: An injury of some kind. Possibly from pressure or from being stored too cold.Eat or
Orange dots on your blueberries?
What you see: Orange dots on your blueberries. What it is: Spore masses!Eat or toss: Toss the spotty berries, but unaffected ones will probably be
Wispy white spots on blueberries
What you see: Cottony white spots on your blueberries; probably where the stem attached or where there might have been a wound in the blueberry’s skin. What it
Little pockmarks or pits in hardboiled egg
What you see: The white of your hardboiled egg is covered in pockmarks or little bubbly dents. What is is: An egg with a bubbly air cell!Eat or toss: Eat! The
White areas on raspberry
What you see: White areas on your raspberry.What it is: Sunburn or sunscald. Eat or toss: Eat! The raspberry is fine. Raspberries with white areas are OK to
Black or brown just under potato peel
What you see: A blackish, dark area under your potato’s skin; the surface may or may not appear damaged. What it is: The blackish coloration pictured above is a
What’s up with yellow or white patches on watermelons?
What you see: A yellowish area on your watermelon. It may be slightly flatter than the rest of the melon. What it is: The ground spot! It’s where the
Dark, water-soaked areas on green beans
What you see: Parts of your green beans have dark green spots; they look “water soaked.” What it is: Likely the result of rough handling, maybe freezing damage.
