Food & Bug contamination

Regenerative Subsistence Flora Food & Medicine
#1

All right… first up, I know I’m an ignorant suburban brat and I know insect contamination is common in modern food (though hidden most of the time) and is doubly so in less ‘developed’ countries (‘developed’ like how? A bad picture? Sorry, couldn’t resist the aside…).

My problem is that I don’t know the dividing line between “shouldn’t eat this” and “still okay.” Case in point, I’m making up some sauerkraut in a ceramic pot, stuck in the corner of the kitchen. I know the lid was initially loose, as I was more concerned with getting pressure on the cabbage so that the cell walls would break down. I open up the sauerkraut today and find 4 dead flies and a dead cockroach.

I’ve scooped them all out. The sauerkraut still smells like sauerkraut. What concerns do I have to deal with? Or are there any?

Best

Bill Maxwell
Planning on feeding 3 children sauerkraut so naturally paranoid :slight_smile:

#2

Ok, obviously, this is only my opinion, but considering it is what it is, seems like its worth making that explicit.

IMO, in an “ideal” world, where you didn’t have to worry about pesticides, godawful sewage and other various obnoxious toxins, I don’t think I’d think twice about it.

Personally, if I was in your shoes and thought that flies/cockroach may have brought it serious toxins (from exposure to raw sewage and/or insecticides) the very, very, very least I would do would be to make a very, very, very large scoop around the bodies to try and remove as much of the exposure as I could. This is assuming that I had been keeping an eye on the sauerkraut so could reasonably say that the critters in question were fairly recent additions.

This may be on the paranoid side of “the line”. Then again, it may be on the blaise side. Either way, that’s what I’d do.

#3

I would not be seriously concerned. First, presumably the sauerkraut presumably has a lot of vinegar in it, and the acidity of the vinegar is antibacterial; that is the basis of pickling as a method of preserving food. Second, the very large scoop jhereg mentions is an extra precaution. Third, heating food kills bacteria – most bacteria of concern is killed at 165 F, it doesn’t even need to go to 212 F (boiling temp). Fourth, unless the flies were recently busy laying eggs on fresh feces, they probably didn’t bring a significant amount of pathogenic bacteria in the first place (the cockroach even less).

#4

Just wanted to clarify on the sauerkraut, this is homemade stuff. Ingredients are: cabbage, salt, brine water (yes, I know that’s just salty water). Put in ceramic pot, apply pressure, leave to ferment.

No heating, no vinegar. Hence my questions :slight_smile:

Best ’

Bill Maxwell

#5

Salt is also a strong antibacterial. That is why salt is a preservative.

But another factor is whether the cabbage had already gotten a major head stat in fermentation. If so, the fermentation bacteria (interesting that the sauerkraut bacteria must survive salt) will not let competing bacteria get a foothold. At least, yogurt works that way (which is why yogurt, and cheese too, were invented in cultures that have no refrigeration, as a way to preserve milk).