What you see: Dirt in your package of store-bought mushrooms. What is is: Peat!Eat or toss: Clean the mushrooms and eat. If you can’t get every speck of the
Black lines under shrimp shell
What you see: Dark lines on your shrimp’s flesh. What it is: Likely, naturally occurring discoloration. Eat or toss: Eat! As long as the shrimp smells
Avocado flesh stuck to pit
What you see: A hunk of avocado flesh is stuck to the pit. The stuck-on flesh could be brown or green. What it is: An avocado that didn’t ripen properly.
Dark spots all over mango
What you see: Black dots all over your mango.What it is: Lenticel darkening!Eat or toss: Eat! This only affects the external appearance of the mango. Are
Why do some potatoes leave a white mess on cutting boards?
What you see: Your potato has left a lot of white stuff on your cutting board. What it is: Potato starch!Eat or toss: Please do not eat your cutting board.
Dark, black coloration on shrimp
What you see: Black discoloration on your shrimp. The tails are turning black and amorphous black blobs have formed where the shell segments connect. What
What if blue cheese gets fuzzy?
What you see: Your blue cheese seems to have developed fuzzy mold, beyond the blue areas you expected. What it is: More mold!Eat or toss: We’re calling this a
Misshapen avocados are still good to eat
What you see: Raised lines and scars on the avocado’s peel; the fruit’s overall shape is distorted. What it is: Ridging! Eat or toss: Eat! This
Yellow things in red cabbage
What you see: Something yellow and maybe leafy or sprouty growing inside your red cabbage. What it is: The cabbage is bolting!Eat or toss: Eat! Nothing wrong
Dark, purple residue under avocado skin
What you see: A dark, purplish “dust” on the surface of your avocado, just under the skin. What it is: Pigment from the skin. Eat or toss: Eat! The purple
Can you eat a stringy squash?
What you see: A squash that’s stringy on the inside. What it is: An old squash. Aging made the squash's internal plumbing visible. Eat or toss: It probably
Can you eat moldy yogurt?
What you see: A green substance on the surface of the yogurt. What it is: Mold. Eat or toss: The mold could have penetrated deeper than you could see, making
Tomato with green in skin
What you see: A tomato that looks red on the outside, but has a green tinge inside its skin. What it is: A tomato that didn’t mature and/or ripen properly. Eat
Cucumber with “water-soaked” areas
What you see: Parts of your cucumber or cucumber slices are translucent and look “water-soaked.” What it is: Chilling or freezing damage. Eat or toss: Eat!
How to tell if white stuff on cheese is mold
What you see: White stuff on your cheese. You’re worried about uninvited mold. What it is: If it’s soft and you can spot “filaments,” it’s mold. (If it’s
White area under potato peel
What you see: A strikingly white area just below the potato peel. What it is: A white “knot,” basically a bruise that didn’t turn dark colors, as bruises
