Can Mushrooms go bad?

Your roommate is an idiot. Of course they go bad.

there are other things besides fungus to worry about. Good call throwing them out.

They are produce, they were alive at one point. They die, they rot, they grow new things on top of them. They get YUCKY.

So yeah, good choice in getting rid of them.

@PupnTaco haha she isn’t an idiot, she just says stupid things sometimes! :)

You can tell her “Dave said you’re an idiot.” LOL

@Dave I’ll go do that now, I think she is in the kitchen…

I am pretty sure all food items can go bad except Mcdonald’s french fries because I have not eaten that shit in years but I found a fry under the seat of my truck and it still looked the same as the day I bought it.

@jessturtle: yeah, they talk about that in Super Size Me. Those things can survive nuclear war – makes you think twice about eating them for sure.

Mushrooms do keep longer than a lot of other things. But when they get mooshy and slimy, you probably won’t want to use them. When they get little black spots, definitely toss them.

All living matter decays. Thank goodness. Wouldn’t it be awful if all the plants and animals and other creatures that ever died on the earth were still lying around on the surface? Thank goodness for the bacteria and other critters that break down and consume dead things.

Sure. It all depends on who they hang around with.

Here’s mushroom spoilage up-close and personal:

“Mushroom spoilage mechanisms include dehydration, enzymatic browning and bacterial growth. Mushrooms have a shorter shelf life than most ready-to-use vegetables because their respiration rate is rapid and they have no barrier to protect them from water loss or from microbial attack. Enzymatic browning occurs when the enzyme, tyrosinase, makes contact with its substrate and initiates a series of reactions which produces brown melanin pigments. Contact between the enzyme and its substrate can occur when mushrooms are bruised, cut, or damaged by microbial growth. Microbial spoilage of mushrooms is usually due to the growth of pseudomonad bacteria. As these bacteria grow, they break down the mushroom fibres which softens the mushroom and leads to enzymatic browning. The major species responsible for this is Pseudomonas tolaasii which produces a toxin that lyses mushroom cells. The resulting brown pigments and surface lesions are symptoms of the disease, “bacterial blotch”. Growth of pseudomonad bacteria also causes slime to form on the mushroom surface. Chilled storage (4°C) of mushrooms from harvest to cooking helps to maintain good quality (Gormley, 1975) by reducing the rate of bacterial growth and enzyme activity.”

source

I was going to say. This has already been asked but now I see I was wrong. My mistake.

Yep, so can potato salad. http://studiotwentythree.blogspot.com/2006/05/when-potato-salad-goes-bad.html

If your roommate cooks for you, too, I wouldn’t leave her alone in the kitchen!

@breedmitch I’ve never had the psychedelic variety! :D

Umm.. me either..right.

There is a variety of wild mushrooms commonly called Inky Caps because they will turn into a slimy black mess (like ink) in a matter of hours after being picked. Eaten fresh, though, they are really tasty. Not as good as wild Oyster Mushrooms, or wild Morels, but not bad.

Considering they are, I might have to say yes.

Usually they do if they come from a dysfunctional family

Mushrooms may be fungus, but when they go bad, other fungus can join in.

It’s like saying, “How can sour cream, cottage cheese or bleu cheese go bad, since they are all sour, curdled, or moldy, respectively?” It’s when other spoilage happens to them – they’re not immune – that they go bad.

It’s been my experience that mushrooms, sour cream and cheese go bad even faster than other foods. Maybe because they’re half-way there already?