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This has happened to me a few times before. I still eat the date because it doesn't taste bad. It did surprise me the first time I had black stuff on my fingers and I wondered what it was.
I've met a few bad dates; though I open them first to take out the pit and have a look. I once found bugs in a date. And a frighteningly spiky (dead) worm-like thing sticking out of a dried fig [shudder].
I suspect the black stuff in dates is mold, and it's probably best not to eat it, though I haven't had it analyzed . . .
dates can go bad??
I had no idea!
I never put my dates in the fridge and sometimes i leave them in the cupboard for months at a time. . .
I thought that they are dried fruit and so they can't go bad.
yikes. now I'm scared.
vmaxfield ~ depends on what kind of dates you are buying. Dried dates are ok in the cupboard. Where were they in the store when you bought them? Shelf? then you are ok. Refridgerated section? Needs to stay in the fridge, as they are likely "fresh". If you ordered them online, I am betting they are "fresh", and should be refrigerated- ask the folks you bought them from.
valgal123 & joannabanana Was it a granular looking powder, or fluffy? I have never seen mold in a date, but if it was fluffy, then I am with ambiguous: might be mold. But if it were granular-- I've seen this a few times, not just in dates but some dried fruit as well (and in my recent order of apricots, unfortunately.) Hate to say it, but I think that is ... ehem... bug waste.
Happens to me quite often, almost in every lets say 500grams I find 1 black date, also happens to me rarely with dried figs, yea it doesn't taste bad but I don't wanna take my chances and I usually throw them..
Oh geez!! Bug waste? I wasn't expecting that. The black stuff looks like gun powder. It's not fluffy, it just gets on your hands as soon as you open it.
for recipes that call for dates, are you supposed to use fresh dates or dried dates?
I usually use dried dates because I didn't know you could buy fresh dates.
I usually use fresh medjool dates. They look like this-
http://www.ohnuts.com/buy.cfm/bulk-dried-fruits/dates/california-medjool
thats what I use!
I thought they were dried though.
i have a question about dates - the ones that the company Dole sells in the bags are they okay to eat? Are they considered raw? My mom saw them in the store the other day and it got me curious. Thanks :)
eek! Im all freaked out now.
Once my sister and I had a bunch of people over for a party-- we cut into a beautiful red pepper and a full-grown moth flew out! There must have been a tiny hole into which a mother laid eggs. This poor caterpillar spent its whole life enclosed in a dark pepper. The coccoon was inside.
He just flew away.
I have the same kind of question as Mikfizzle.
I like the brand of dates they sell at stop and shop, sunsweet brand I think. For some reason they taste a lot better than the dates sold at whole foods or at trader joes. Are they raw? Are all dates the same?
Once my sister and I had a bunch of people over for a party-- we cut into a beautiful red pepper and a full-grown moth flew out! There must have been a tiny hole into which a mother laid eggs. This poor caterpillar spent its whole life enclosed in a dark pepper. The coccoon was inside.
Wow! That's amazing!
"Once my sister and I had a bunch of people over for a party-- we cut into a beautiful red pepper and a full-grown moth flew out! There must have been a tiny hole into which a mother laid eggs. This poor caterpillar spent its whole life enclosed in a dark pepper. The coccoon was inside."
Wow! That would have made for a really good magic trick!