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
Peach with black spots
What you see: Peaches with black spots. What it is: Peach scab, a disease that tends to stay on the surface. Eat or toss: Peel. If the flesh below
Tomato with black seed
What you see: Black seeds lurking among the normal seeds in your tomato. What it is: A seed that isn’t normal, but isn’t harmful either. Eat or toss? Eat! If
Black dots on salmon?
What you see: Black spots on your salmon. What it is: Likely dark pigments (“melanin spots”) the salmon produced in response to a virus or other
Cloudy pickle brine
What you see: Cloudy pickle brine. What it is: If it’s a fermented pickle, the cloudiness is bacteria–the good kind!Eat or toss: If it’s a fermented pickle and
Can you eat wrinkly tomatoes?
What you see: Very wrinkly tomatoes. What they are: Tomatoes that have lost a lot of water. Eat or toss: As long as they smell fine, the skin isn’t broken and
Moldy peach pit
What you see: A moldy pit in a peach.What it is: A moldy pit in a peach. Eat or toss: Toss. In a soft fruit like a peach, even areas without obvious mold could
Narrow bumps or warts on honeynut squash
What you see: Narrow, angular bumps on your honeynut squash. What it is: Healed wounds. Eat or toss: Eat! The squash's flesh, that is. The scabs will likely be
Shallow blackened holes on potato’s exterior
What you see: Blackish spots or holes on your potatoes like those pictured above; they may go below the peel. What it is: Likely pores that were damaged and
