Intriguing questions 🤔

[briantrumpet]

Sometimes they have obvious answers, when you reflect on them, but often I'm doing something or riding along merrily, and suddenly a question pops into my head that intrigues me and I can't answer from my understanding of the world I've developed up till now.

Today's is "Why does hummus only (supposedly) keep for 2-3 days in the fridge?" I can't think what ingredient would go off so quickly when kept cold, especially as hummus contains plant fats and (citric) acid.

Anyway, I've just pushed my luck and eaten some stuff that's been open for one day longer than the 'consume within two days of opening' instruction.

 

[newts]

Sometimes they have obvious answers, when you reflect on them, but often I'm doing something or riding along merrily, and suddenly a question pops into my head that intrigues me and I can't answer from my understanding of the world I've developed up till now.

Today's is "Why does hummus only (supposedly) keep for 2-3 days in the fridge?" I can't think what ingredient would go off so quickly when kept cold, especially as hummus contains plant fats and (citric) acid.

Anyway, I've just pushed my luck and eaten some stuff that's been open for one day longer than the 'consume within two days of opening' instruction.

Is this the 'best before date' scam to get you to throw it out & buy more? We keep homemade hummus for about a week.

 

[fossyant]

You can tell when not to eat hummus - it's usually 'bubbled' a bit. It's probably OK. TBH our fridge is great for keeping stuff fresh way beyond the sell by date. So much better than our previous fridge. Been worth the investment (the old one fell to bits) as it's saved us a load of money in wasted food.

 

[briantrumpet]

Is this the 'best before date' scam to get you to throw it out & buy more? We keep homemade hummus for about a week.

Not sure. There's obviously a difference between the sealed state and the 'once opened', but two days seems daft, given the ingredients, so I wondered if there was something else going on. Even the recipe I'm going to try says 'up to three days'.

Yes, I generally am happy with a week in the fridge for most things other than raw pork.

 

[sungod]

if food hasn't gone furry and the smell/colour/texture haven't otherwise changed for the worse, it's getting eaten

perhaps helps that the fridge is at 2 celsius

 

[briantrumpet]

Well, this one goes for a week, so it looks like the recipe and Aldi advice was being over-cautious. (I'll admit that my interest has been slightly heightened by my digestive activities last night - I think that was probably the chicken that had been in my malfunctioning fridge that was recycled on Friday).

https://www.eatingwell.com/article/8020665/how-long-does-hummus-last-in-the-fridge/

 

[ColinJ]

I don't have an issue with how long houmous lasts after opening the packaging... It always lasts the 15 minutes that it takes me to eat it all!

 

[PeteXXX]

Apropos nothing, really, but my dad was once making houmous and he didn't put the lid on the grinder properly and the dried chickpeas were ricocheting all over the kitchen...
Could have had someone's eye out but we survived!

 

[si_c]

Best before dates are not about product safety but rather how long the food will maintain the quality/consistency that the manufacturer wants.

Use by dates are about product safety and are set so that they can be sure that a particular percentage (99.999% for example) will not go bad before that date. Given how this works though that date is always very very conservative, so you likely have a large margin for error with consumption.

A bit of awareness around what you are eating and you'll be fine.

 

[Pblakeney]

Yes, I generally am happy with a week in the fridge for most things other than raw pork.

Fresh fish? My Dad insists it's fine and hasn't killed him yet. I find it repulsive just getting rid of it.

 

[Beebo]

Hummus does start to ferment after a few days.

It develops bubbles of gas and has a fuzzy taste.

But I eat it beyond a sell by date if it looks and smells ok.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Today's is "Why does hummus only (supposedly) keep for 2-3 days in the fridge?

It's a bit over precautious from the manufacturers, but yes, pulses can spoil quickly, give you a bad tummy ache.
If spoiled, you can smell it and see it right away, not like, say salmonella bacteria that don't give out any smell or taste.
Some upmarket hummus is sold covered in a layer of olive oil, those will keep longer in a fridge under 5C
Personally, I have eaten hummus even a week after the use by date without ill effects.
If I make it myself, it will last 5/6 days, but mostly it get well eaten before that time.

 

[Webbo2]

I think I have some hummus in the fridge that I opened over a week, will I die if I eat. I usually dip raw mushrooms in it. Is this a double die thing.

 

[Chris S]

We've got a similar thread here:
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/q...gardless-of-how-trivial-they-may-seem.274840/

 

[SpokeyDokey]

We've got a similar thread here:
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/q...gardless-of-how-trivial-they-may-seem.274840/

Mod note:

Thanks for your observation.

I have to confess that I was caught in two minds about that thread and this re merging.

I left them unmerged as I think that 'trivial' and 'intriguing' are sufficiently differentiating.

I may be wrong, of course, but let's see how they go and should they ever become too closely aligned we can merge at that point.