Veg and Preservatives

Art_Deco

Went to a different supermarket about a week before Xmas just for a change , bought some broccolli used half and have just found the remainder in the fridge looking as fresh as when we bought it , how is this possible? the expiry date is 19th December, Im not complaining :rotfl: its just that where i usually shop the broccolli is usually soggy and brown after a few days,do you think theyve been heavy handed with the preservatives? Will be having it tonight for tea anyway but just wondered what you folks thought.

GreyQueen

Art_Deco wrote: »

Went to a different supermarket about a week before Xmas just for a change , bought some broccolli used half and have just found the remainder in the fridge looking as fresh as when we bought it , how is this possible? the expiry date is 19th December, Im not complaining :rotfl: its just that where i usually shop the broccolli is usually soggy and brown after a few days,do you think theyve been heavy handed with the preservatives? Will be having it tonight for tea anyway but just wondered what you folks thought.

There's a widespread assumption among the general public that veggies (and fruits) come double-quick from the growers and onto the shop shelves.

That is not usually the case. Veggies are sometimes stored for many weeks or even months before even reaching the shelves. Even indy greengrocers hold stock at refridgerated temperatures before bringing it out onto the shop-floor, often in warehouses well away from the shops, bringing down what they need on a daily basis. Some things like cabbages may have been in a chiller for many weeks (and some so-called frsh veggies have been scientifically tested and found to have little or no Vit C because of their long storage - why is why frozen veg is usually more nutritious).

Veggies and fruits grown overseas have often been in transit for months. BB dates on fresh produce are farcical. It's either under-ripe, just right or going off. In all cases, the status will be apparent by a quick look or possibly look-and-feel of the produce.

I have some veg in my fridge which was dug up in early October from a garden (carrots and parsnip) and left unwashed and is still in perfect nick.

Washed veggies age faster than dirty veggies, unchilled ones last shorter times than chilled ones and the time your veg stays in good condition in your keeping will depend on how long ago it was harvested before you actually bought it.

19th Dec to 5th January is a no time at all. You can also lengthen the life of veggies like broccoli, celery and cabbages by cutting a thin slice off the base of the stem (to unseal the pores) and placing them in a bowl or vase of cold water. Lettuces particularly like nesting in chilly Pyrex bowls and stay pert and fresh for ages like this.

Farway

GreyQueen wrote: »

.....Veggies and fruits grown overseas have often been in transit for months. BB dates on fresh produce are farcical. It's either under-ripe, just right or going off. In all cases, the status will be apparent by a quick look or possibly look-and-feel of the produce....

I have always wondered why they bother putting expiry date on fruit & veg, except for shop stock rotation it is meaningless, but some believe it, I have even seen spuds chucked out, presumbly they became deadly toxic as Cinderella ran home from the ball

Mojisola

Art_Deco wrote: »

do you think theyve been heavy handed with the preservatives?

Some fruit is coated with a waxy finish to extend its shelf life but I can't think of anything that is applied to veggies to do the same.

You've just been lucky in getting some really fresh broccoli.

comeandgo

A lot of root vegetables are stored in warehouses for up to a year before they go on supermarket shelves, they are kept fresh with temperature control and added gasses. This can extend slightly their shelf life.

Art_Deco

Thanks for replies , just a bit surprised as when i buy from Morrisons, after a day it starts to turn brown and yellow and disintegrates, shocked that they can be kept for up to a year!! You learn something everyday.

Mojisola

Art_Deco wrote: »

Thanks for replies , just a bit surprised as when i buy from Morrisons, after a day it starts to turn brown and yellow and disintegrates, shocked that they can be kept for up to a year!! You learn something everyday.

What on earth are you doing with root vegetables that makes disintegrate after a day?

GreyQueen

I think BB dates on fruit and veg are absurd, although I am frequently delighted to make out like a bandit on YS bargains because some fresh item has reached its BB date and is being sold off at 10 % or less of the original price.

My indy greengrocers, the second generation in the family business, tell me many tricks. Mrs Greengrocer has told me more than once about a customer who told her she'd thrown out a supermarket pineapple because it was past its BB date.

When asked if it was going off, she was told not, it was still green. So why had the customer thrown it away? Because of the BB date, the other woman told her, as if explaining something to an idiot.:rotfl:

I've bought a supermarket pineapple for 10p because it was on its BB date and had to keep it hanging around for a week or more until it actually ripened.

It's a mad world when people can be so indoctrinated that they ignore both common sense and the evidence of their own sense, in respect of fresh foods.

Art_Deco

Mojisola wrote: »

What on earth are you doing with root vegetables that makes disintegrate after a day?

Not my root veg , just the broccolli i usually buy loses its colour and goes brown and turns to seeds? after only a few days ,thats why i was so surprised it had kept so long and was so green from the other shop.

GreyQueen

Art_Deco wrote: »

Not my root veg , just the broccolli i usually buy loses its colour and goes brown and turns to seeds? after only a few days ,thats why i was so surprised it had kept so long and was so green from the other shop.

Broccoli heads are actually clusters of thousands of teeny-tiny flowers, each not much bigger than a pin-head. When the broccoli is growing, these are green. When the flowers ripen, which will eventually happen on the plant if the head is left uncut, or after it's been cut, the flowers open and the whole head takes on a yellowy-browny tinge.

If you look at the head closely, you'll see this happening. It isn't decay and it doesn't render the veg inedible, although it looks less attractive.

With purple sprouting broccoli, if it's left on the plant, the purple sprouting stems shoot out further and open up small lemon-yellow flowers, very popular with insects.

With veg, our harvesting is interrupting the plant's natural process from an immature state to a mature state. Parsnips and carrots are actually supposed to live two years and send up flowering stems on the second summer (parsnips end up about 7 ft tall btw). Lettuces bolting also mean them putting up flowering and seeding stems. HTH.

Art_Deco

GreyQueen wrote: »

Broccoli heads are actually clusters of thousands of teeny-tiny flowers, each not much bigger than a pin-head. When the broccoli is growing, these are green. When the flowers ripen, which will eventually happen on the plant if the head is left uncut, or after it's been cut, the flowers open and the whole head takes on a yellowy-browny tinge.

If you look at the head closely, you'll see this happening. It isn't decay and it doesn't render the veg inedible, although it looks less attractive.

With purple sprouting broccoli, if it's left on the plant, the purple sprouting stems shoot out further and open up small lemon-yellow flowers, very popular with insects.

With veg, our harvesting is interrupting the plant's natural process from an immature state to a mature state. Parsnips and carrots are actually supposed to live two years and send up flowering stems on the second summer (parsnips end up about 7 ft tall btw). Lettuces bolting also mean them putting up flowering and seeding stems. HTH.

:beer: Thanks for this i thought that it would be inedible when brown, hopefully save me a bit of money.