When Good Food Looks Bad But Isn’t: 7 Fixes For Foods To Save
Quick Reference
- Sprouted potatoes: safe if still firm. Cut the eyes out because they contain glycoalkaloids. Toss any potato that is soft or green.
- Crystallized honey: never goes bad. Warm the jar in a pan of low heat water and stir until liquid returns.
- Hard brown sugar: microwave with a cup of water for 30 seconds, or add a bread slice or apple wedge in an airtight jar overnight.
- Blood spot in an egg: harmless. Lift it out with a spoon and cook as normal.
- “Best by” dates: not expiration dates. Eggs 3 to 5 weeks past purchase, milk about a week past, butter about a month past when kept at 40 degrees F or below.
- Black mold on onion: rinse and use only if the flesh under it is firm and clean. Avoid entirely if you are allergic to Aspergillus niger.
- Mold on hard cheese: cut off one inch around and below and keep the rest.
- Bruised produce: perfectly fine to eat. Trim the bruise, use the rest.
American households throw out about 30 percent of the food they buy each year, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, and a big share of that waste is food that only looks off. Sprouted potatoes get pitched. Crystallized honey gets replaced. A blood spot in an egg goes down the drain. This guide keeps every original tip in the Almanac’s “looks bad but isn’t” checklist, adds the science behind each fix, refreshed date-label guidance from the FDA, and answers the seven questions readers ask most about food that seems questionable but is still fine to eat.
Before you toss out food that looks unappetizing, remember that appearance is not always indicative of safety. Mold on hard cheese can simply be cut off. Bruised produce is still perfectly fine to eat. But can you eat potatoes with sprouts? How about crystallized honey? Wondering how to soften hard brown sugar? Below are the common issues that cause many people to throw away good food, with the science-backed fix for each.
Can You Eat Potatoes With Sprouts?
You pull a potato out of the bag and it has eyes popping out all over. Is it edible? Yes, as long as the potato is still firm. Experts suggest removing and discarding the sprouts before using the potatoes because the eyes contain mildly toxic compounds known as glycoalkaloids (mostly solanine) that increase as the sprout grows. Use the end of a potato peeler to dig out the eyes, or peel the potato whole before cooking. Toss any potato that has gone soft, wrinkled, or is showing green skin under the peel. Green skin means higher solanine and is the one signal you should not eat around.
How About Crystallized Honey?
There is no expiration date on honey and while it may crystallize, it never goes bad. Why does honey crystallize? Honey crystallizes because of its high sugar and low water content. Warmer temperatures help honey stay liquid. Crystallization occurs over time when honey is stored below 95 degrees F. Archaeologists have found sealed honey in Egyptian tombs, more than 3,000 years old, that was still perfectly edible. If yours has hardened in the pantry, it is doing exactly what nature intended.
The good news is that you can easily de-crystallize honey in your kitchen. Place a glass jar of honey in a pot of water on the stovetop. The water should reach no higher than three quarters up the sides of the jar. Heat the water over low to medium heat. Once it is hot, stir the honey. Continue to stir gently every few minutes to dissolve the crystals. Once done, remove the hot jar with a jar lifter and set it on a towel to cool slowly on your kitchen counter. Skip the microwave: extreme heat above 104 degrees F can damage the natural enzymes in raw honey.
How To Soften Hard Brown Sugar
Brown sugar hardens when the molasses loses moisture, but that does not mean you have to throw it away. Wondering how to soften hard brown sugar? Try one of these two simple solutions.
- Place a bowl of brown sugar in the microwave. Fill a glass measuring cup with 1/3 cup water and set it in the microwave, too. Microwave for 30 seconds. Remove lumps with a fork. Pop back into the microwave for another 15 seconds if needed.
- Put a piece of bread or a couple of apple slices into an airtight container of hard brown sugar and leave it overnight. The brown sugar will absorb the moisture from the bread or apple and soften.
To prevent it from hardening again, store brown sugar in a sealed jar with a terracotta “brown sugar bear” or a strip of orange peel tucked inside. The clay or peel releases moisture slowly and keeps the sugar scoopable for months.
Blood In Egg Yolks
Have you ever cracked open an egg and seen a blood spot? While it may seem gross, it is actually perfectly safe to eat. Blood in an egg yolk is the result of a burst capillary in the hen’s ovary or yolk sac. This does not mean the hen was unhealthy or mistreated, nor does it mean the egg was fertilized. It is more about the age of the chicken and her diet. If it really bothers you, simply remove the spot with the tip of a spoon or a knife and proceed with your recipe.
The “Best By” Date: Eggs, Milk, And Butter
Most grocery items today have “best by” dates stamped on them instead of expiration dates. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) advises that eggs are safe to use three to five weeks after purchase if kept in the coldest part of the refrigerator, not the door. Refrigerated milk can typically be used up to one week past the printed date. When in doubt, check for a sour or unpleasant smell, or a change in texture, before drinking.
Butter can be stored and used a month or so after the printed date when refrigerated in its packaging at 40 degrees F or below.
Note: You can freeze milk and keep it for up to six months, but it is best to use within one month. Try to freeze it before it reaches the “best by” date. Butter can also be frozen for up to four months. Eggs can be frozen too, but they need to be taken out of their shells first. (See page 84 in the 2023 Farmers’ Almanac for details.)
Read more about the FDA’s suggestions for “best if used by.” The FDA and USDA now jointly recommend “Best if Used By” as the single voluntary phrase to reduce confusion; most stamped dates are quality dates, not safety dates.
Onions With Black Mold
The best rule with black mold is to avoid eating it. However, if the mold on the onion is minimal and easily removed, you can rinse the onion under cool running water and use it only if the remainder is firm and free of mold. Black mold on onions is caused by a common soil fungus, Aspergillus niger. If you have known allergies to Aspergillus niger, avoid contact with onions with black mold. If you notice black mold forming on your onions too often, you may deter it by storing them in a cool, dry, ventilated place; keep bagged onions out of the refrigerator’s high-humidity crisper drawer, which speeds mold growth.
Other Food-Look Fixes Worth Knowing
- White dust on chocolate: “bloom.” Cocoa butter or sugar has migrated to the surface after a temperature swing. Cosmetic only. Melt it into a recipe or eat it as is.
- Milky liquid on top of yogurt: “whey.” Stir it back in. It is protein-rich and safe.
- Brown avocado flesh: oxidation, not spoilage. Scrape off the brown layer, use the green underneath.
- Green spots on garlic cloves: the germinating sprout. Slice out and use the rest.
- Cloudy olive oil in the pantry: normal in cool weather. Warm the bottle in your hand and it clears.
- Grey ring inside a can of tuna: a harmless protein and iron reaction with the can lining. Safe to eat.
The One Rule That Beats Every Sniff Test
The USDA’s plain-language rule for anything in the fridge or pantry: appearance is not the same as safety, and a smell test is not the same as a science test. Food-borne pathogens like Listeria and Salmonella do not always change the smell, taste, or look of food. Use appearance and smell to catch spoilage, but do not use them alone to judge safety. When something has been in the fridge past the recommended storage window, or was left out at room temperature for more than two hours, discard it even if it looks and smells fine. Everything above is about food that looks off but is safe; the reverse case, food that looks fine but is not, is where the risk actually lives.
Join The Discussion
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FAQ
Can you eat potatoes with sprouts?
Yes, if the potato is still firm. Cut out the sprouts, or peel the potato before cooking, because the eyes contain glycoalkaloids like solanine that are mildly toxic. Toss any potato that is soft, shriveled, or has green skin under the peel: green means higher solanine and is not worth the risk.
Does crystallized honey mean it has gone bad?
No. Honey never spoils. Crystallization is normal when honey is stored below 95 degrees F, because the sugars separate out of the low-water solution. Warm the sealed jar in a pan of low-heat water and stir until it turns liquid. Skip the microwave, which can damage the enzymes in raw honey.
How do you soften hard brown sugar quickly?
Microwave the sugar in a bowl next to a small cup of water for 30 seconds, then break up lumps with a fork. For an overnight fix, seal the sugar in an airtight container with a slice of bread or a couple of apple wedges. The sugar draws the moisture back out of the bread or fruit and softens.
Is a blood spot in an egg safe to eat?
Yes. A blood spot is a burst capillary in the hen’s ovary or yolk sac. It is not a sign of illness, mistreatment, or a fertilized egg. If it bothers you, lift the spot out with the tip of a spoon or knife and use the egg as normal.
What does a “best by” date actually mean?
A quality date, not a safety date. The USDA and FDA both confirm that most stamped dates are the manufacturer’s estimate of when peak flavour ends. Eggs are usually safe 3 to 5 weeks past purchase in the coldest part of the fridge; milk about a week past the printed date; butter about a month.
Can you cut mold off cheese and eat the rest?
For hard cheeses like cheddar, parmesan, and gouda, yes: cut at least one inch around and below the mold with a clean knife, then use the rest. For soft cheeses, shredded cheese, sour cream, yogurt, and cottage cheese, discard the whole container. Mold spreads through soft foods much faster than through hard ones.
Is a smell test enough to know food is safe?
No. Foodborne pathogens such as Listeria and Salmonella do not always change how food looks, smells, or tastes. Use appearance and smell to catch spoilage, but for anything past safe fridge time or left at room temperature more than two hours, discard even if it seems fine.
Deborah Tukua
Deborah Tukua is a natural living, healthy lifestyle writer and author of 7 non-fiction books, including Pearls of Garden Wisdom: Time-Saving Tips and Techniques from a Country Home, Pearls of Country Wisdom: Hints from a Small Town on Keeping Garden and Home, and Naturally Sweet Blender Treats. Tukua has been a writer for the Farmers' Almanac since 2004.
- Deborah Tukua
- Deborah Tukua
- Deborah Tukua
- Deborah Tukua
These are really helpful tips. Thank you for sharing. I will definitely pass these on.
We’re so glad to hear that, Margie! Best wishes from everyone at FA.