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I recently got a bag of carrots out of the fridge, and find that most of them had turned black. What causes this, and are they safe to eat (with or without peeling)?

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    This was one interesting question... I wonder if you would buy carrots from market if they were black instead of organge :D (any other colour but these )
    – bonCodigo
    Feb 11, 2014 at 12:59
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    I have bought and eaten black carrots before now - but there is a marked difference between carrots that are black and carrots that have turned black
    – Paul Michaels
    Feb 11, 2014 at 14:31
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    I definitely meant the latter, "carrots that have turned black". That's why I gave the piture link to make sure to include carrots with all possible colours, including the purple/black ones..
    – bonCodigo
    Feb 11, 2014 at 15:34
  • Apropos black carrot: Vintage carrot and camomile youtube.com/watch?v=FjN546QGSMA
    – soegaard
    Nov 7, 2015 at 12:24

3 Answers 3

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When carrots turn black, it is almost always caused by rot. I would definitely not eat them.

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  • Is it not safe to simply cut the rot away?
    – Paul Michaels
    Dec 14, 2013 at 14:50
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    @pm_2 if it's just the ends, you might be able to generously cut away the rotted parts, but if it's a lot of them in the bag, I wouldn't take my chances.
    – SourDoh
    Dec 14, 2013 at 15:06
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    @pm_2 - I'd think that if the carrots were sitting around long enough to rot, even the parts not rotted would at least be significantly worse than before in flavor and texture. I can get 2 lbs of carrots at the grocery store for about $1.40 USD, 1 lb bag for $.89 USD. Are you really that hard-up that you have to eat rotten carrots?
    – PoloHoleSet
    Sep 20, 2016 at 18:23
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    A few people have asked questions like: why not throw them away/why take the chance, etc. Whether or not I can afford to throw away a bag of carrots, surely we should be trying (as a society) to waste as little as possible. If we accept that, then it's down to forums such as this to advise on doing that safely.
    – Paul Michaels
    Sep 20, 2016 at 19:04
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The carrots are rotten. I would advise throwing them out.

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Please toss them.... black is not good. They should be a bright orange (unless of course of it is the colored varieties, like purple)

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