Food safety question

code3rrt

Babbling Farker
Joined
Aug 9, 2012
Location
Spokane...
First of all......you all are costing me a lot of money:wink:. All the rubs, sauces etc. One of the things I bought was a foodsaver.

I'm kinda guessing at the time frame here, but 2-3 weeks ago, I made some cole slaw and had a half head of cabbage left over, I don't use cabbage real frequently, so I vacuum sealed that 1/2 head out of curiosity, to see how it would hold up.

I checked on it from time to time to see how it was holding up. It looked great for a long time, I'm thinking nearly 3 weeks, no black edges, looked nice and fresh.

Today I'm smoking up some country syle pork ribs, I thought that some cole slaw sounded like a great idea. I reached in the vegetable drawer to get the Cabbage, and the vacuum sealed package was blown up like a balloon, squeezed it a little, no detectable leaks, although the color of the cabbage was still good.

I cut the package open, no terrible smell really, strong smell of cabbage and a few leaves were a little wilted. I was going to use it anyway, but I thought.........I really don't know the reason for the "gas" in the bag. I know with canned goods that get old, and the cans expand you have to worry about botulism, which if I remember correctly is anerobic.

Anyway.......I tossed it, even though it didn't look or smell spoiled.
What do you all think?

No big deal really, out a buck for the cabbage, so what. But I was curious from the point of view of you scientific and food safety guys what would cause this to happen?

Thanks,

KC
 
I do not know from a food safety point of view. But, from a horticultural point of view, as vegetative matter decays, or for that matter, ripens, it out gasses as the cells break down. For the price of cabbage, toss and buy seems a good idea.
 
Cabbage will keep for weeks in the fridge not vac sealed. Probably okay, but when in doubt....
 
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