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How long is commercially prepared potato salad good for?
Dear Mark, hope all is well.
I bought some commercially prepared **potato salad from Hannefords super market about a week ago. The package has a thin plastic seal over the potatoe salad that needs to be opened in order to eat some. I broke the seal and its been in the fridge ever since. I was going to eat some more of it tonight but wasn’t sure it would be safe, It has a USE BY JUN/20/23 stamped on its plastic container.
Ingredients: **Red Potatoes, Mayonnaise (Soybean Oil, Water, Egg Yolks, Vinegar, Salt), Water, Vinegar, Onion, Salt, Modified Corn Starch, Sugar, Black Pepper, Potassium Sorbate (Preservative), Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Xanthan Gum.
Source: HANNAFORD BROS. CO., LLC
Would you please let me know your thoughts and suggestions.
Cordially, Ralph
Dear Ralph
Thank you for your question.
Generally speaking, the FDA requires food manufacturers to test batches of prepared food (in this case, potato salad) to ensure that pathogens are absent in 25 gram samples. Also, use-by dates are mostly established for quality (spoilage), not safety, reasons.
However it is possible for the potato salad to become contaminated with a pathogen after the product is opened in the home. Whether a pathogen can grow in potato salad is primarily affected by the pH (acidity) of the food and the temperature at which it is stored. Research studies show that if the pH is less than 4.6, then there is low risk that any pathogen can grow, even at elevated storage temperature. However, if the pH is greater than 4.6, it is possible for some pathogens to grow at refrigerated temperature.
My recommendation is to consume the potato salad before the use-by date, so that it has the best quality. If you have any doubts about the safety of the product after it was opened, then discard it.
Regards
Mark
Thank you for that great information. The last potato salad I bought from another trusted retailer had a Packed On date of 8/31/24 and a Sell by 09/07/24. How far if any past the Sell By date might the product be still safe to consume? Seems like a long date to consume between the two dates. I don’t see any *preservatives listed in the ingredients. Diced white potato and there is some cider vinegar, distilled vinegar and lemon juice from concentrate included. It has mayonnaise, canola oil, whole eggs and egg yolks, water, salt, sugar, sea salt, *sorbic acid, garlic salt, onion salt, black pepper, xanthan gum, black pepper.
Your thoughts Mark. Warmly, Raffaelo