Are these strawberries okay to eat?

I have a general guideline I use: If I have to ask if they’re good, I don’t take a chance and throw them out. I’ve got sick a couple of times when I asked that question, it’s not worth it.
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I think if they look ok and you wash them, you should be ok. The white stuff is mould so discard those ones but if they look red and feel firm, they’ll be fine.

I am with @Adirondackwannabe but more with meat and processed food. It’s a lot easier to tell if fruit and veg are off and you just need to sort the good from the bad rather than chucking the whole lot out.

Strawberries are very sensitive, and you really need to use them within two days if they are fresh from the field. If they are California strawberries, they’ll last a lot longer. Perhaps they put some kind of growth hormone in them or maybe they irradiate them. I don’t know why they last longer.

Anyway, the real thing—fresh picked natural strawberries that are only available in late spring and early summer go bad very quickly. Use them the day they are picked for best results.

As to the mold—you can pick out the moldy strawberries and eat the others. I generally cut off all the soft, darker spots, because those are fermented already. If you like strawberry wine, then eat them, but I wouldn’t.

I have never gotten sick from those strawberries as far as I know. You know we get all kinds of stomach ailments and it’s not always clear where they come from.

The strawberries where I come from are gone already. Three or four short weeks. I want more. I have a whole set of shortcake biscuits in the freezer, and nothing but strawberries seem right to put on them. Other fruits don’t juice the same.

Anyway, enjoy. If there are California strawberries, then take them back to the store and get a refund. Otherwise, learn to eat them faster.

Wait! Don’t throw them out! I’ll eat them! Throw out the one or two really squooshy, furry ones but rinse the others and enjoy. With their ripeness and perishability they have proved to be real strawberries.
The older they are, the softer and sweeter they become.

(Like women? Sorry. I started thinking about mouth feel and sqeezing them with my tongue and my mind went straight to the gutter.)