When do potatoes go bad

Even if you keep shelf life in mind, you should still check potatoes for telltale signs of spoilage. A strong smell coming from an otherwise fresh-looking potato is a warning that the inside may have rotted or started to mold. Sprouts are a sign of imminent spoilage in potatoes. Although sprouts may look unappealing, recently sprouted potatoes are still safe to eat as long as you remove the sprouts.

You can do so by simply snapping them off with your fingers. These compounds can have serious side effects, including neurological and digestive symptoms like headaches, vomiting, and diarrhea 6 , 7 , 8 , 9.

These toxins may also exist in any part of the potato that has a greenish tint. As sprouts grow, they suck sugars and nutrients from the plant, causing it to shrivel, shrink, and lose its crunch In some cases, cooked potatoes have a strong odor or visible mold that indicates spoilage. Yet, in other cases, this food may harbor harmful bacteria without any noticeable signs.

Especially once cooked, potatoes are a high-risk food for bacteria that can cause food poisoning. Some signs that uncooked potatoes have spoiled include dark spots on the skin, a soft or mushy texture, and foul odor. Cooked potatoes may have mold but can also spoil without any noticeable signs.

Cooked potatoes carry a high risk of food poisoning. After a few days, they may begin to harbor pathogens and bacteria that could result in illnesses, such as salmonella, listeria, botulism, and staphylococcal food poisoning. If you have a foodborne illness, you might experience some of the following symptoms 14 :. Additionally, if you ever spot mold on cooked potatoes, you should dispose of them immediately.

Mold may appear as fuzz or a few dark spots that are brown, black, red, white, or bluish gray. Potatoes sometimes cause food poisoning. And there are a lot of questions surrounding when you should toss them.

Should you throw away potatoes that have sprouted? Can you still eat potatoes if you cut the sprouts off? We'll answer all of these questions and more. Learn how to store potatoes, and how long they last so you can cook with your potatoes while they're still good. Undoubtedly, the best way to store whole, uncooked potatoes is outside of the fridge. Storing potatoes in the fridge will cause the starch to turn to sugar, giving them a sweet flavor that you don't want from your potatoes.

When stored in a cool, dark place, warmer than the fridge but colder than room temperature whole, uncooked potatoes can last up to two months.

But unless you have an unheated basement, you're probably going to have to stick with room temperature. To store, keep them loosely covered in a paper bag, mesh bag, or cardboard box to provide good air circulation. At room temperature, potatoes will last up to two weeks.

The cold temperatures in a refrigerator rapidly turn the starch inside a potato to sugar, creating a much sweeter flavor and changing the texture. Stored in the fridge, raw potatoes may last around a month before losing some of those precious qualities that make them so delicious.

Cooked potatoes, on the other hand, should be stored in the fridge in sealed containers. We recommend consuming cooked potato within one week when correctly stored in the fridge. Long before a potato goes bad, it will undergo other changes, such as sprouting or changing color. If exposed to warmer temperatures, potatoes will rapidly sprout, but the good news is that they are still perfectly safe to eat — as long as you cut off the sprouts and dispose of them.

The green tinge happens when a potato is exposed to light — either natural or artificial. Some varieties of potato will develop a purple tinge when exposed to light. When you see that this veggie starts rotting, get rid of them immediately. It may contain harmful pathogens like salmonella, staphylococci, clostridium botulinum, and listeria.

Food poisoning usually causes the following symptoms:. Sometimes, you can see a few red, bluish-gray, brown, or black spots on cooked potatoes as a sign that mold has started growing.

However, you can store some of them this way successfully. For example, cooked potatoes can last for months stored this way if you seal it tightly in an airtight container before freezing.

This starchy root veggie is well-known for extended shelf life if stored appropriately. If you occasionally cut the sprouts and green spots on the potatoes surface and regularly check them for mold, you can enjoy this delicious food for months.

Even though cool places are the best option for storing potatoes, you should avoid freezing raw tubers. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. How Long Do Potatoes Last? Pin 7. How Long Do It Last? Does Heavy Cream Go Bad? How Long Does It Last? Does Bread Go Bad? Does Watermelon Go Bad?