41
I would invest in a small thermos bottle, about the size of what you need for one day. They are not only designed to keep hot food hot, they can also keep cold food cold. Choose a size that will be as full as possible when you start, it will keep better.
This is what the small B&B we‘re currently staying at supplies to their guests. If it’s good for an ...
36
It is absolutely untrue and very dangerous to think that "if it looks OK, and smells OK, it must be OK." If that were the case, food poisoning would be very rare. Food that we can sense is spoiled rarely causes illness. For one thing what you don't eat can't hurt you, and people generally won't eat food that looks or smells spoiled. But less obviously, much ...
36
Your best bet for longevity is UHT milk - in individual portions.
It's the same stuff you get in hotel rooms.
Pic from Amazon, anonymised.
Though it doesn't taste the same as 'real' milk it's virtually indestructible, almost inert, & will survive unopened & unrefrigerated for 6 - 9 months.
As soon as it's opened, you have to treat it just like real ...
27
I'm aware of three reasons that you might not want to do so:
You tie up spices that you might want to use in other dishes individually
You don't always want to add the spices at the same time.
You can't always keep spices well-blended.
If you only tend to cook one dish or you leave some of each spice in reserve, the first one isn't really a problem.
The ...
25
Yes, nuts are very fatty, and they will eventually go rancid— if this is the case, they will taste very poor. They can also dry out, or in more rare cases (especially if stored improperly) be infested with insects or molds.
Generally, they should be good for six months to a year at their best flavor, depending on the variety (in the shell).
Five ...
24
If your carrots are going soft after just a few days, you're not storing them properly. Mine keep for weeks and weeks. I leave them in the plastic bag, and keep that in one of the vegetable drawers in my fridge. How are you storing yours?
A rubbery soft carrot isn't bad for you, it just isn't very pleasant. A slimy carrot is bad for you, don't eat it.
21
It sounds like it's fermented, and more harmful bacteria or mold could definitely have grown without being visible.
So it's not safe, in that there's definitely some risk. It's hard to evaluate exactly how risky it is. It sounds like you're already routinely taking risks by eating iffy food that's not obviously rotten or moldy, so you certainly could choose ...
16
Garlic will spoil faster in the fridge actually. I don't know how long it will last in the fridge, but I understand that it lasts longer if you leave it in a cool, dark, dry storage. I believe one reason is that your fridge is generally too humid. In my experience, garlic kept in the fridge is also more likely to develop mould (goes soft, and dark ...
16
In a similar situation in a previous job we successfully used an old camping trick: Wrap the bottle containing the day's milk in a damp cloth, and stand it in a bowl of water, in the draught from an open window. The evaporative cooling produced that way is really quite effective. Either buy a small bottle in the way in or transport it insulated.
Another ...
15
Whiskey is quite high in alcohol, on the order of 40% by volume, and is not hospitable to pathogens growing.
The flask is intended to hold liqueur, and so is made from or lined with a food safe material, such as food grade stainless steel (assuming you have one from a reputable manufacturer).
So yes, it should be fine.
Remember: when it was distilled, ...
15
Most commercial fruit is picked before being completely ripened because once it is ripened it has a very limited shelf life, and strawberries are no exception. Strawberries ripen from the tip to the stem and a good indicator that a strawberry is unripe is a white ring around the stem area.
Some fruits can be artificially ripened by exposing them to ...
14
The reason flour is in paper bag (either 1kg/2lbs bags from supermarkets, or 25kg for bakeries) is to let it "breath": to get it oxidized. If you see an old (vintage) bag it's made of a net that lets a lot of air to get in. Today those bags are not used because it also allows bugs to get in.
When wheat grains are just milled, the flour is not good enough: ...
13
First off I want to point out the term "fresh". While some containers might keep milk from spoiling for longer, it may not taste as nice.
Several things might be why:
1.) Plastics leach flavor and odor into the milk. Cardboard cartons are also lined with plastic, not wax since about the 1940s. I would say this is likely the biggest impact-- I've always ...
13
Assuming you're using spices which are all dried and ground, there should be no problem.
In the middle-east, there are always several spice mixtures available in shops. The most famous of which are Ras-al-Hanout and Baharat. These are spice mixtures sold as pre-mixed combinations by the shopkeeper, who is usually the one who grinds the spices.
13
As an alternative to the (very good) vacuum bottle suggestions, Insulated lunchboxes with an ice-pack are great. My kids use them for school and the ice-pack is often still partially frozen at the end of the day, even when kept outside in hot weather.
As a bonus, you can put your other snacks/lunch in there to keep cool as well.
12
Ingredients:
liqueur, acidity regulator (E331), emulsifier (E471), flavours (caffeine), colouring (caramel (E150b).
Source: a food product inventory database
The alcohol keeps the product from microbiological spoilage, the E331 (sodium Citrate) buffers the product form getting damaged by acids produced by any spoilage, and E471 (mono and diglycerides of ...
12
Honey is very stable for a number of reasons. The main ones though are the low amount of water (most honey is under 18% water) and the high amount of sugar (which is a preservative). Both of these things keep things like mold and bacteria from being able to grow. Over a long period of time (and if left unsealed) the honey could absorb moisture and then ...
12
Beyond obvious downsides like a rancid taste or textural deterioration, both tree nuts and peanuts are in a category of foods particularly prone to molds that produce aflatoxin, which can cause liver failure or liver damage in sufficient quantities.
When I was importing a product from Asia that contained peanuts, it was one of the things that was considered ...
12
The USDA recommends storing hard boiled eggs, whether peeled or not, for 1 week. I personally have kept & eaten them after 2-3 weeks. I have also cracked one open that was no longer edible & believe me - You will know when that happens! The egg will will smell rotten & you will have no question as to whether or not to eat it!
Some additional Info ...
12
It is due to a combination of several factor, depending on how the particular sausage was made:
Dry cured sausages contain curing salts, a mixture of regular salt and sodium nitrate (which breaks down into sodium nitrite), which prevents the growth of botulism while the sausage cures.
Meat for dry cures sausage is also often frozen to specific temperatures ...
12
As I have noted in a couple of other answers, I have worked in the CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) industry for almost 30 years. It is safe to say that there is not a simple answer to this question. There are so many variables that it would be difficult to even go into all of them. Before I go further, let me say that common sense goes a long way.
Most food ...
12
According to Still Tasty (a site that looks at USDA, CDC and FDA data), nori lasts 2-4 months in the pantry and 4-6 months in the fridge. Also it says:
Store in airtight glass or plastic container or in sealed plastic bag. Refrigerate to extend shelf life.
Still, nori is completely dried. I imagine that the concern beyond that time frame is staleness, ...
11
No, there is no reason they should.
Bacteria feed on carbohydrates, not on fats. (This is why oil doesn't spoil outside of the fridge - it is pure fat). So it is the amount of milk sugar which is important for the bacteria, and it is the same regardless of the fat content. Also, the spoiled milk is not more or less sour at the end.
The other important ...
11
Coffee beans will retain their essential oils and flavor compounds longest if stored in a dry, dark, airtight container. Refrigeration and freezing are therefore not desirable options since they will almost always cause moisture to form on the surface of the beans.
Note that for the first couple weeks after the coffee has been roasted it will naturally ...
11
Vinegar is non-alcoholic, and my suggestion would be a brine of some sort, essentially pickling it. Alternatively you could just dry it out.
I should also add - Ginger is a root, and can generally be kept fresh in a cool dark place (ie. a root cellar) for some time.
11
I'm sorry to say that your three packages are no longer safe for consumption. Expiry dates are usually pretty conservative and food may still be good several days past them, but the concerning factor in your case is the ballooning of your packaging.
As various bacteria live their lives, they produce gas. A small amount of bacteria over a short amount a time ...
11
I don't know if this is possible for you at work but it hasn't been mentioned as an option: you can use a mini fridge to keep your milk cool / cold.
Here's an image of one
(I left the image out on purpose, because I'm not trying to advertise a specific product.)
I'm not affiliated with the manufacturer or seller, but I do have one of these fridges. I find ...
11
First of all, it's not air that makes the milk spoil but microbes that fall in and grow there. So keeping it cool is one thing, the other thing is not getting the microbes in there.
I have milk in my office outside the fridge up to about 20 °C over the working day without problems (I do have a fridge, though where I put it if I won't finish the package ...
10
That advice isn't "wrong" and millions of people keep keep fish sauce in a cabinet for decades. Regarding safety, it's generally OK to store fish sauce at room temperature for years, but that isn't recommended by government worrywarts for best quality. Still Tasty. Pathogens run in fear faced with this stuff, but it can (rarely) develop "offness".
It is ...
10
I have worked in the CPG industry for almost 30 years. A few years back I had the privilege of representing one of the largest produce brands in the US. I learned quite a bit about produce storage and what speeds up the deterioration rate.
One thing I noticed in your picture is that there appeared to be moisture (condensation) inside of the bag of carrots. ...
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