Eat It Or Pitch IT

[Jeepers]

I have some boxed food in the basement. Food like hamburger and tuna helper. Also rice mix, au gratin potatoes and macaroni. There are about 15 boxes in all. I've had them about 1 year or less.

 

The basement has been damp and musty. It isn't moldy down there just...dank. The boxes aren't damp. It's just the atmosphere and smell down there is unpleasant. The boxes are still factory sealed.

 

Do you think the food inside is still good? I wonder if spores of some kind could be in there? Would you eat it? I'm sort of thinking no but I hate to throw it away and replace it $$$. Getting sick would be worse though. Any thoughts?

 

Last week I bought some plastic containers and the next time I'm going to store the boxes of food in them. And try to get the basement dried out.

[Christy]

Could you take the boxes upstairs, air them for a few days and see if they develop anything nasty? If the small is just the cardboard, the inside might be sealed in plastic. In which case it should be fine.

Macaroni overhere is not in plastic or mylar in cardboard, just right in the box.

Rice mix comes in mylar-ish wrapping here.

Anything that does not wriggle or show spores, maybe cooking time can reduce risks?

 

Violet would probably know.

For what it´s worth, I´d probably eat anything that could be cooked at least 10 minutes.

[Nichole]

Have you ever seen the backroom of a grocery store? lol Unpleasant smell and atmosphere is exactly how I'd describe it. I think it should be ok since the package is still sealed. I'd look at it before you cook it though, like Christy said.

 

ETA: That reminds me, I have the exact same stuff in my parent's basement I need to check. I was also wondering, would weevils get in the macaroni, or is that only flour? I found some in mine the other day

[Violet]

As long as it looks fine, has no off odor in the food itself, then it will be perhaps a quality issue, not a safety one. I would cook some and see. Letting it air out a couple days is a good idea.

 

Many foods become just a quality issue over safety.

[Jeepers]

Thanks all. I'm going to bring it upstairs and let it air out and then try it.

 

Nichole, I never thought about the back room of a grocery store. Oh boy.

I have seen some cans on the shelf that were so dusty I wondered how long they has been there.

[Canned Nerd]

I've got Hamburger Helper and a few other boxed mixes that are way more than a year old and they come out fine. They seem to be quite shelf stable. Use the smell test on the mix to make sure some component of it didn't go rancid.