OT - Anyone else concerned that food doesn't go bad any more?

greenbean.sixpack

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Oct 6, 2012
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It seems like just 10-15 years ago bread would mold, cheese would go back etc. Now it seems like bread lasts forever. We cleaned my MIL's fridge out today and opened, shredded cheese from July 2024 looked like it came straight out of the grocery store.

I realize this is good and bad as it saves people money and extends the food supply, but the preservatives, or whatever it is treated with, can't be good for us.
 

mstateglfr

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Feb 24, 2008
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HotMop

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May 8, 2006
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It seems like just 10-15 years ago bread would mold, cheese would go back etc. Now it seems like bread lasts forever. We cleaned my MIL's fridge out today and opened, shredded cheese from July 2024 looked like it came straight out of the grocery store.

I realize this is good and bad as it saves people money and extends the food supply, but the preservatives, or whatever it is treated with, can't be good for us.
It's a naturally preserved food with low moisture content, high salt and acid levels, and in some cases, a protective rind. Without mold spores or high humidity it won't mold.
 
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Oct 8, 2021
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If we live long enough we'll all get cancer, why delay the inevitable*
But seriously, you bring up a valid point. Here's my random thoughts, sponsored by a few wild turkey rare breed old fashioneds...We have stuff in our foods that isn't allowed in other countries, that should tell you something.
Plant breeding and hybridization has us eating completely differently than our grandparents and previous generations. Corn, wheat etc now isn't the same corn wheat etc that was around before. Refining techniques make it easier to produce but strip nutrients leaving only the starch.
I won't pretend to be an expert, I did Google some stuff and I slept at a holiday in express last night so that means something.
It is scary to think that if something happened to shut down our food supply (our ability to go to the store and buy things to eat) we'd be in very bad shape within a week or less.
 

greenbean.sixpack

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It's a naturally preserved food with low moisture content, high salt and acid levels, and in some cases, a protective rind. Without mold spores or high humidity it won't mold.
This was Kraft shredded cheese in ziplock type pouch that had been opened for almost a year. I've heard never to buy pre shedded cheese because of how it is treated to retard mold, but now I'm a believer.
 
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Pars

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Oct 11, 2015
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Had some everything bagels in the pantry I thought we just got.
Home for lunch today and plopped some out of the vat of pimento cheese my mil brought over and smashed them.
Wife comes home and asks about crackers and I tell her should be a bagel left.
She opens them up moldy as hell.
Her words extremely moldy
Should be some interesting flatulence for her this evening
 

OopsICroomedmypants

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Sep 29, 2022
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This was Kraft shredded cheese in ziplock type pouch that had been opened for almost a year. I've heard never to buy pre shedded cheese because of how it is treated to retard mold, but now I'm a believer.
HotMop speaks like he has a background in microbiology and he's right. Also, If I'm not mistaken, pre-shredded cheese has a layer of waxy stuff on it that prevents it from sticking together. This probably keeps available moisture away from the surface and keeps bacteria and mold from our hands from growing. I recently told my wife and kids about this recently and we've been grating our own sharp cheddar since. Try it and you will quickly remember how good cheese is supposed to taste instead of the crap they sell already shredded.

I also have some Wonder hotdog buns still fresh after two weeks on the counter. Fresh bread from the bakery (French bread etc.) will mold in 36 hours.
 
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leeinator

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I usually buy Bunny Honey Wheat or Ballpark buns, etc and they last a month or more if you keep them wrapped up tight from the air. Back in the day, stuff like that usually lasted about a week to ten days. Something's certainly changed......guess I need to ask RFK, Jr.
 
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stateu1

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I recently told my wife and kids about this recently and we've been grating our own sharp cheddar since. Try it and you will quickly remember how good cheese is supposed to taste instead of the crap they sell already shredded.
Also melts way better too.
 

DesotoCountyDawg

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Nov 16, 2005
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It seems like just 10-15 years ago bread would mold, cheese would go back etc. Now it seems like bread lasts forever. We cleaned my MIL's fridge out today and opened, shredded cheese from July 2024 looked like it came straight out of the grocery store.

I realize this is good and bad as it saves people money and extends the food supply, but the preservatives, or whatever it is treated with, can't be good for us.
Shredded packaged cheese has an anticaking starch put on it so that it doesn’t stick together in the package (it’s what gives it that powdery look) and it also has in that anticake starch an antifungal compound called natamycin that helps prevent mold growth.

And before you start googling and go into an absolute panic, it’s applied in a very tiny amount.


I love freshly grated cheese but there’s also nothing wrong with the store bought unless you don’t like the texture which is understandable. Just understand it’s done that way so it lasts longer.

We like to buy the packaged sliced cheese and you can definitely tell it doesn’t have the starch or natamycin in it because once you open that package you’ve got about a week or so to use it before it looks like a science experiment.
 

Hot Rock

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My father could not understand why my niece spent so much on trying to eat healthy.

I pointed out that she was only trying to eat the kind of stuff he ate growing up. Very little processing to introduce bacteria and source of his food? He either hunted or harvested the majority of his meat and veggies all his life until he could no longer manage it.

Americans eat like **** and we die. Is this a shock to anyone?
 

DesotoCountyDawg

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Nov 16, 2005
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My father could not understand why my niece spent so much on trying to eat healthy.

I pointed out that she was only trying to eat the kind of stuff he ate growing up. Very little processing to introduce bacteria and source of his food? He either hunted or harvested the majority of his meat and veggies all his life until he could no longer manage it.

Americans eat like **** and we die. Is this a shock to anyone?
People in the South eat shít and die (present company included).

Average life expectancy for the US would be on par with the rest of the world if it weren’t for our affinity for fried everything (present company included).
 

GloryDawg

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Mar 3, 2005
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After some of the crap I ate overseas in Korea my stomach can take anything.
 
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Podgy

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RFK jr. is a retarded witch doctor. Let's just bring back paganism while we're at it. Most food spoils. We might have too many artificial ingredients and additives in some food, something RFK jr. points out. So do others. RFK jr, is still a retarded witch doctor.
 

dorndawg

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Sep 10, 2012
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Yeah that nutjob is really going to save us.**

RFK and his merry band of social media grifters are really looking out for our health.
They're grifters first and foremost, but never forget the eugenics angle that's always very near the surface.
 

thatsbaseball

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May 29, 2007
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People in the South eat shít and die (present company included).

Average life expectancy for the US would be on par with the rest of the world if it weren’t for our affinity for fried everything (present company included).
Lard is still the best seasoning in the world !
 
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Dawgbite

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Walmart has a loaf of pre sliced French bread in the deli. It used to be $1 but recently went up to $1.47. It will mold in three days but we’ve found that it will keep for over a week in the refrigerator. It’s the best bread that I’ve eaten in forever. Great sandwich, even though it’s small, great garlic toast, and I make croutons out of the leftovers in the air fryer
 
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Podgy

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Say what you will, but it's a massive upgrade over this.

Biden's Pick for HHS Role Would Be First Transgender Federal Official - The  New York Times's Pick for HHS Role Would Be First Transgender Federal Official - The  New York Times
Two weeks ago I had blood drawn by a transwomen for a check up. I've been around transpeople before, had a few conversations and generally treated them with respect although I find some of it to be weird. Fortunately, no doc reading the result suggested I needed to drink raw milk and take ivermectin.
 
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AttalaDawg72

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Yes. We’re being poisoned. Big pharma is in bed with the food companies. They want you sick and fat.
 
Apr 7, 2025
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It seems like just 10-15 years ago bread would mold, cheese would go back etc. Now it seems like bread lasts forever. We cleaned my MIL's fridge out today and opened, shredded cheese from July 2024 looked like it came straight out of the grocery store.

I realize this is good and bad as it saves people money and extends the food supply, but the preservatives, or whatever it is treated with, can't be good for us.
Definitely part of our health issues.
 

The Peeper

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Feb 26, 2008
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When my kids were young I would be amazed when I would find a few french fries between the seats or under them on the floor and it looked just like the day it was fried. No mold, nothing, just an intact french fry and knowing it had been eons since my kids were in my truck eating anything.
 

NWADawg

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May 4, 2016
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It seems like just 10-15 years ago bread would mold, cheese would go back etc. Now it seems like bread lasts forever. We cleaned my MIL's fridge out today and opened, shredded cheese from July 2024 looked like it came straight out of the grocery store.

I realize this is good and bad as it saves people money and extends the food supply, but the preservatives, or whatever it is treated with, can't be good for us.
I've never worked in a bread plant but I have worked for a company that did a lot of food testing and helped set standards for many bread producers around the country that produce for one particularly large retail company. Dough conditioners of various types seem to be the difference makers. I've seen bread that was still as soft as new baked more than 20 days past best by date.

1744725126628.png
 
Apr 7, 2025
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People in the South eat shít and die (present company included).

Average life expectancy for the US would be on par with the rest of the world if it weren’t for our affinity for fried everything (present company included).
I think that’s partially true but the demographics in the south affect the life expectancy a lot.