Gross! Bacteria. Or, freegans anonymous.

[CharityAJO]

Oooh-kay. I'm living paycheck to paycheck here. I have nothing against stale and/or free food.

...But I've just acquired a bad case of the farts, on account of some old tofu. Here's a space to log your instances of "I shouldn't have eaten that a week ago."

[Coney]

Hmmmm. I do pretty well with not eating food if it's more than 5 days old. My policy is if it doesn't smell like what it is, don't eat it. I have in the past, eaten something that makes me feel awful and wished I hadn't, mostly has to do with cabbage/raw onion sort of stuff.

Tofu can be very borderline. It can smell pretty decent, but then the next hour, it smells rotten as hell.

I've not gone dumpster diving yet, but I wouldn't be opposed to picking up some dented cans of stuff, or bakery bread that's a day or two old, if it's in a plastic bag.

[misq17]

The funny smelling soymilk should have been a no :no:

[soilman]

Undented cans are probably safe. Plastic bags do not do a good job of keeping contaminants out. It isn't like they are tested for impermeability, like condoms.

[froggythefrog]

The wilted taters turned out to also be bright green under the skins, which I found out as I was chomping away...

[CharityAJO]

That's toxic! I ate a bunch of green taters last year. We debated at the time whether it was a good idea. "Eh, it's just a natural color. Probably unripe or something." Turns out green=Toxic.

[soilman]

Green on the the skin or just under the skin, in a pototo, means the potato was exposed to sunlight and its chemical factory started working and started producing chemicals which it needs light to produce, including (1) chlorophyl, which is green and (2) solanaceae alkaloids, which in the potato, are mildly toxic. They shouldn't be as toxic as nicotine, or belladona, other solanaceae alkaloids, from other plants in the solanaceae family.

Also, normal cooking temperatures should partially or wholly decompose the solanacae alkaloids produced by potatoes. Hint: solanacae alkaloids taste very bitter. Ever taste different potato skins, some of which aren't bitter, others of which are bitter? Bitter = solanacae alkaloids. Extremely unlikely you'll die from them. It is also not even likely that you'll get noticably sick from a cooked potato. But acc to what I understand it does take a few minutes at water-boiling temp, to completely decompose the alkaloids.

[Descentia]

That bread that I thought would be okay toasted turned out to have a big furry patch - I realised after consuming the other half of the piece.

[kraftykraft]

When I moved, I took a bunch of food to our local food pantry. As a thanks, they let me take some day old bagels from panera bread. I took three and ate one for dinner and then one for breakfast the next day. I then got stomach cramps so bad that I almost passed out so I threw the other bagel away. Oops.

[Veggiegirl]

I'm wondering if I should drink this soy milk I just got. My hubby was putting away groceries and accidentally left the soy milk on the counter and it became room temperature (it was left out for about 3 1/2 - 4 hours. Do you all think it is safe?

[CharityAJO]

Give it a tiny sip. I've done that on a few occasions. Sometimes it's fine, sometimes you can taste something has gone amuck.

[froggythefrog]

I'm wondering if I should drink this soy milk I just got. My hubby was putting away groceries and accidentally left the soy milk on the counter and it became room temperature (it was left out for about 3 1/2 - 4 hours. Do you all think it is safe?

Should be okay, as long as you put it in the fridge right then. I did that with my soy creamer, not giving it a second thought.

[froggythefrog]

That's toxic! I ate a bunch of green taters last year. We debated at the time whether it was a good idea. "Eh, it's just a natural color. Probably unripe or something." Turns out green=Toxic.

I stopped chomping away as soon as I saw it -- I never saw such a bright green on a potato in my life. Turns out frying is supposed to be effective on the toxin. Boiling and baking aren't. I think it's just better not to let them get there.

Now I know why my Mom stored them in a dark pantry. They turn green when exposed to light.

[froggythefrog]

Green on the the skin or just under the skin, in a pototo, means the potato was exposed to sunlight and its chemical factory started working and started producing chemicals which it needs light to produce, including (1) chlorophyl, which is green and (2) solanaceae alkaloids, which in the potato, are mildly toxic. They shouldn't be as toxic as nicotine, or belladona, other solanaceae alkaloids, from other plants in the solanaceae family.

Also, normal cooking temperatures should partially or wholly decompose the solanacae alkaloids produced by potatoes. Hint: solanacae alkaloids taste very bitter. Ever taste different potato skins, some of which aren't bitter, others of which are bitter? Bitter = solanacae alkaloids. Extremely unlikely you'll die from them. It is also not even likely that you'll get noticably sick from a cooked potato. But acc to what I understand it does take a few minutes at water-boiling temp, to completely decompose the alkaloids.

Thanks -- the page I read said boiling wasn't effective. (But it's the net, ya know...) I read this after I discovered I was eating them, and remembered being warned. I sorta wanted to know what the toxin was, and if I'd be in a fetal position calling 911 in a while. I never noticed a bitter taste or felt anything, so I am assuming all was well....