Warning over ‘dangerous’ TikTok food storage hack that can breed ‘deadly’ bacteria
AS food prices continue to rise, it's no wonder many of us are trying to make our produce last longer.
But health experts have warned that a viral TikTok food storage hack could be putting your health in danger, as it creates a breeding ground for deadly bacteria.
This is particularly relevant for avocados.
They are notoriously tricky - buy them ripe and they'll go brown within days, but buy them hard and you'll wait ages for them to soften, and then it's quickly too late.
That's why a TikTok tip that supposedly extends their window of ripeness gained sudden popularity.
The app filled with videos of people submerging the fruits in cold water, allowing them to be stored in the fridge for weeks at a time.
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Advocates of the hack said doing this slowed the oxidisation process, and even kept them fresh when they had been halved.
But health experts have warned that you could be putting your health at risk if you store avocados this way.
IBS consultant dietitian told the Sun that there may be traces of harmful microbes on the skins.
She said: "Generally this is not seen to be a huge risk, but when you submerge the avocado into water it provides the ideal breading ground for things like salmonella or listeria that were on the avocado skin to multiply rapidly.";
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But it's not just handling the avocado that can put your health at risk.
"These pathogens not only stay on the skin of the avocado but also can move inside the fruit, which means when we eat them that would become very sick," the dietitian warned.
Salmonella is a bacterium that causes food poisoning and can make you seriously ill - though most people do recover without treatment.
Symptoms include diarrhoea, stomach cramps and sometimes vomiting or fever.
In extreme cases, sufferers might need to be hospitalised due to severe dehydration brought on by the illness.
You usually get salmonella from eating contaminated food.
Bacteria live in the gut of many farm animals and can affect meat, eggs, poultry and milk.
Other foods like green vegetables, fruit and shellfish can become contaminated through contact with manure in the soil or sewage in the water.
Eating these foods will only make you sick in rare cases.
Meanwhile, listeria bacteria can cause a rare infection called listeriosis.
Though it's seldom lethal in health adults, listeriosis it can be fatal for newborns, pregnant women, people over 65, and those with compromised immune systems.
Eating inadequately prepared deli meats and unpasteurised milk products are the most common causes of the illness.
Symptoms include a high temperature, body aches, chills, vomiting and diarrhoea.
Registered dietitian at Birmingham's Aston University, Dr Duane Mellor, told the Sun: "The problem is that avocados are full of nutrients which are good for us, they also help bacteria to grow.
"Many of these are on the skin of the fruit, so if you leave it in water you are almost making a broth in which some bacteria can grow."
Listeria especially is a problem as it can grow in fridge temperatures, he explained.
Both he and Kirsten had a few more food related warnings.
1. Don't wash your meat
"You should never wash meat," Kirsten stressed.
While cooking it appropriately will kill of the microbes in it, washing it means "harmful bacteria will be spread all over the sink, increasing the risk of food poisoning".
2. Cool food before putting in fridge
Kirsten went on: "You should not put warm things in the fridge.
"This can increase the temperature of the fridge, allowing bacteria to grow."
3. Don't defrost meat on counter
Finally, the dietitian said that meat should always be defrosted in the fridge.
"It keeps the meat at a temperature which makes it difficult for harmful bacteria to grow," Kirsten explained.
"But most people defrost their meat on the side in their kitchen."
4. Be careful with jacket potatoes
Meanwhile, Dr Mellor urged some care should be taken when cooking jacket potatoes.
"These need to be clean as there can be a risk of spore-forming bacteria in the eyes of potatoes which can survive cooking, chilling and then reheating," he said.
5. Take care with reheating rice
Dr Mellor issued a similar warning over cooling and then reheating rice.
"Again, spore-forming bacteria can start to replicate if temperatures are not above 70 degrees Celsius or below 80C," he said.
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"So when cooling and heating food, try and keep the time between hot and cool as short as possible."
This is ideally less than an hour or two, then refrigerating as soon as you can.