In this brief guide, we are going to answer the question “Can you get sick from eating expired spinach?” with an in-depth analysis of whether or not you can eat moldy spinach and how do you know if your spinach has gone bad?. Moreover, we are going to discuss the methods of storing spinach.
Can you get sick from eating expired spinach?
Yes, rotten spinach can cause gastrointestinal problems including nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea because spoiled spinach can carry harmful bacteria like E.coli, Salmonella, and Listeria.
How long does it take to get sick after eating bad spinach?
E. coli O157:H7 infection symptoms typically appear 3 to 4 days after consuming infected food, with a range of 1 to 10 days. Symptoms commonly include severe bloody diarrhea and abdominal pains; however, the illness can also cause non-bloody diarrhea or no symptoms at all.
How can you tell if your spinach is bad?
There are some reasons you can easily know that your spinach is spoiled due to the appearance, color, texture, and smell of spinach. It will give you an unpleasant smell and discoloration. Other indicators of aged spinach include yellowing and wilting leaves.
Should you throw out rotten or slimy spinach?
Yes, if your spinach is too moldy it is better to discard them but yellowing and wilting leaves are other signs of old spinach. The simplest solution is to reject those few wilted or yellow leaves and use the remainder.
How long does the spinach last?
When kept correctly in the fridge at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, fresh spinach may survive for approximately 5-7 days. Cooked spinach can keep in the fridge for about 3-5 days if placed in an airtight container or plastic zipper bag at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cooked spinach keeps for around 2 hours at room temperature. Germs develop faster between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, therefore it is better to discard cooked spinach that has been left out in the open for more than 2 hours, since germs may have already spread over it and destroyed it. If the outside temperature is 90 degrees Fahrenheit then cooked spinach lasts for only about an hour when left out in the open.
How can you store spinach properly?
The following are the tips for storing spinach properly;
- Commercially spinach is pre-washed but before using them you should rewash spinach. If you want to store cooked spinach, you should be kept in the fridge at 40 degrees Fahrenheit. It can be kept in the refrigerator for about 5-7 days. You should store the spinach in an air-tight container.
- If you want to store fresh spinach, for the fresh spinach stored in the refrigerator you should put the spinach in a zipper or a plastic bag in a paper towel.
- Allow cooked spinach to cool fully before transferring it to an airtight container or plastic zipper bag. When you keep hot cooked spinach in an airtight container, moisture accumulates inside, creating an excellent environment for bacteria to grow.
- If you leave cooked spinach out at room temperature for more than 2 hours, germs will most likely have contaminated it. You may even freeze spinach, and frozen spinach will keep for around 10-12 months if stored correctly in the freezer.
- To freeze spinach, first, thoroughly wash it, then remove the stems and blanch the leaves in boiling water for 2-3 minutes before chilling in ice-cold water. The spinach leaves should then be washed and wiped dry. Line a cookie sheet with spinach leaves and freeze them. After they have frozen, place them in a plastic freezer bag and set them in the freezer.
How to thaw frozen spinach?
When you want to thaw frozen spinach, you can either leave them in the fridge overnight or, if you are going to add them to a cooked dish, you can directly add the frozen spinach to the dish during cooking, but remember to adjust the time of the dish according to the time it takes for the spinach to defrost.
How to use frozen spinach?
Cooking with frozen spinach is simple because the prep work is already done. While frozen spinach will always be mushier than fresh spinach, making it unsuitable for salads, it is ideal for use in hot dishes such as stews and soups, as well as baking into pies. Simply ensure that you have drained as much water as possible.
Conclusions:
In this brief guide, we answered the question “Can you get sick from eating expired spinach?” with an in-depth analysis of whether or not you can eat moldy spinach and how do you know if your spinach has gone bad?. Moreover, we discussed the methods of storing spinach.