BajaNomad

Unrefrigerated Mayonnaise?

DavidE - 7-12-2012 at 08:40 AM

Have the gringos been taught since infancy to be overly-cautious? The Méxicans seem so casual about it...

mtgoat666 - 7-12-2012 at 08:41 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by DavidE
Unrefrigerated Mayonnaise?

Have the gringos been taught since infancy to be overly-cautious? The Méxicans seem so casual about it...


you eat what you want. tell us how it works for you!

DianaT - 7-12-2012 at 08:57 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by DavidE
Have the gringos been taught since infancy to be overly-cautious? The Méxicans seem so casual about it...


In homes and restaurants in Mexico we often see the mayo on top of the refrigerator and have wondered --- places where we have eaten and had no problems.

Then again, I once suffered from food poisoning as did many other attendees at a cousin's outdoor wedding from tiny egg sandwiches. The doctors said it was probably from the mayo out of the refer for too long.




[Edited on 7-12-2012 by DianaT]

Cypress - 7-12-2012 at 09:06 AM

Mayo has more than enough preservatives in it to inhibit bacterial growth. No refrigeration is necessary.:bounce:

jureal - 7-12-2012 at 09:12 AM

I always refrigerate mayonaise. But here is what snopes says.
http://www.snopes.com/food/tainted/cutonions.asp

DianaT - 7-12-2012 at 09:22 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by jureal
I always refrigerate mayonaise. But here is what snopes says.
http://www.snopes.com/food/tainted/cutonions.asp


THAT was very interesting! Thanks. Yes, it seems the mayo is always blamed.

I always find it interesting when one of us is hit with some food poisoning. It seems like we can eat the same thing at the same restaurant and only one of us spends the night on the floor of the bathroom. :biggrin:

Bajajorge - 7-12-2012 at 10:06 AM

Unrefrigerated mayo, especially the kind that's kept in the sun causes a marked increase in the sale of toilet paper.:o:barf:

DavidE - 7-12-2012 at 11:24 AM

Hate to say this but the most acidic ceviche imaginable, stuff made with floods of jugo de limon was proven in Mexican and US laboratories to be the one and only reason for a huge outbreak of Cholera in Mexico City several years ago. Absolutely rife with cholera bacilli. You can go back on Google and read about if if you want to.

And Diana T, when you wrote "Spent time on the bathroom floor" I ached. There is one incredibly hard to do physical bathroom contortion that I dare not more than hint at. Food poisoning is bad, it isn't the bacteria, it's the waste product of that particular bacteria. Eight hours of a near-death agony followed by oh-so-grateful recovery. Raw shrimp in ceviche was my downfall. how do I know? I hadn't eaten for 30 hours beforehand and had that and absolutely nothing else except for coca cola out of a bottle.

Speaking of TP, I found that a stack of those really large dispensed napkins at fast food burger joints fit well into the pocket and when fully unfolded and wadded up, do a good job....well, to a point. The last time I offered some to a lady friend in distress in the middle of a México public market, I ended up hearing curses. "This is gosh darnned sandpaper" came the wail. Well, you can't please everybody.

woody with a view - 7-12-2012 at 12:11 PM

if you keep your mayo in the fridge and then leave it in the yard for a day i'd be afraid to eat it.

if you buy it of the shelf warm, keep it on the shelf i see no real reason why it would spoil, especially if the lid is kept tight.

Cypress - 7-12-2012 at 12:18 PM

Been sick a time or two from eating bad stuff. Bad chicken, bad fish. Bad Mayo? Not yet, but I don't eat a lot of Mayo.:biggrin:

Mexitron - 7-12-2012 at 12:30 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by DavidE
Hate to say this but the most acidic ceviche imaginable, stuff made with floods of jugo de limon was proven in Mexican and US laboratories to be the one and only reason for a huge outbreak of Cholera in Mexico City several years ago. Absolutely rife with cholera bacilli. You can go back on Google and read about if if you want to.

And Diana T, when you wrote "Spent time on the bathroom floor" I ached. There is one incredibly hard to do physical bathroom contortion that I dare not more than hint at. Food poisoning is bad, it isn't the bacteria, it's the waste product of that particular bacteria. Eight hours of a near-death agony followed by oh-so-grateful recovery. Raw shrimp in ceviche was my downfall. how do I know? I hadn't eaten for 30 hours beforehand and had that and absolutely nothing else except for coca cola out of a bottle.

Speaking of TP, I found that a stack of those really large dispensed napkins at fast food burger joints fit well into the pocket and when fully unfolded and wadded up, do a good job....well, to a point. The last time I offered some to a lady friend in distress in the middle of a México public market, I ended up hearing curses. "This is gosh darnned sandpaper" came the wail. Well, you can't please everybody.


Not sure what exact bug I got but I ate the raw clam c-cktail from the street vendor in Ensenada years ago...OMG...didn't hit me til 36 hours later when I was at a party in Northridge---it was 106 degrees there that August day and I was freezing from the chills, before the inevitable cleanout for two more days.....

woody with a view - 7-12-2012 at 12:35 PM

i got it once in Oaxaca for 3-4 days, i can't really remember how long but it was the closest i've come to dying.....:barf:

Cypress - 7-12-2012 at 12:49 PM

Your GI tract will be very clean after a bout, your chitlins will be washed-out and ready for fryin.:lol:

MikeYounghusband - 7-12-2012 at 12:49 PM

I carreid a jar with me on my walk down Baja. Probably used 3 or 4 jars. No problems with getting sick, but it will get old and start to taste off.

rhintransit - 7-12-2012 at 12:50 PM

used to leave the mayo out all the time when sailing, hot climates, too. as long as everyone uses a clean knife or fork it seems to stay 'good.' but who knows...

Bajajorge - 7-13-2012 at 10:02 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Cypress
Been sick a time or two from eating bad stuff. Bad chicken, bad fish. Bad Mayo? Not yet, but I don't eat a lot of Mayo.:biggrin:


Go to a pot luck and have some potatoe salad that's been sitting on the serving table in the sun for an hour or so.:no::no:

Cypress - 7-13-2012 at 10:54 AM

Another thing to consider is the personal hygiene of whoever prepared the potatoe salad. Staph! Potatoe salad has eggs. Staph! You can lay all the blame on Mayo if you like, but commercially made Mayo isn't a good medium in which to grow bacteria.;D

MitchMan - 7-13-2012 at 11:17 AM

In 1987 in Loreto, ate some tacos at a street vendor at about 2am, put some of that white cream sauce on my tacos and got the worst case of Montezuma's revenge. Ate the white sauce at a different time and place from another outside vendor and got the runs again. Never ever do I eat that white sauce anymore. Don't have the problem anymore either.

I think most would agree that Mexicans have a different and more lax view point than most metropolitan Americans when it comes to maintaining sanitary conditions in general and with food handling. Many street vendors and restaurants don't seem to have a problem leaving and handling food at room temperature for long periods of time and leaving food out in the open, exposed to flies and the open air. I frequently see flies in super markets INSIDE the refrigerated meat cases and around the food in their cafeterias. When I see more than the occasional fly around food, I won't consume it - flies are notorious bacteria carriers.

Prepared and packaged food in Baja seems to have more preservatives in it than in the USA (that's my guess) as such foods seem to last longer than the same stuff obtained in USA. Bimbo bread seems to last almost indefinitely.

If a restaurant doesn't have enough business to keep stuff rotated frequently or if hygiene or sanitation may appear to be a low priority, I don't eat or buy anything there. Pretty religious about that and I haven't had any problems for many years that way. That practice has kept my American guests in good shape as well.

Not in any way a germaphobe. I eat some stuff (and old stuff too) most people stay away from; dropped food on the ground doesn't bother me one bit. Dust it off, rinse it off and down it goes. Dirt, per se, isn't the problem. The problem is bacteria.

Knowing that bacteria takes a certain amount of time to grow and just the right environment together with your having good judgement about that concerning what you are about to eat, you will be surprised at what you can eat and get by with just fine. I shock people with what I eat all the time, but I know what I am doing.

Besides certain chemical preservatives, certain levels of acidity, basicity, saltiness, and sweetness have preservative qualities, but in most cases are not as strong or long lasting as chemical preservatives. Not to contradict anyone, but mayo doesn't have that much acidity. Also, natural acids like vinegar, citric acid, ascorbic acid and the like are considered very, very weak acids, chemically speaking. So, amounts of these acids in edible foods only serve as mild preservatives, generally. Although, I make marined beets all the time in Baja with a little bit of vinegar and it will easily last two or more in my refrigerator just fine. I think it has more to do with the beets than the vinegar, though.

Also, I think a certain amount of 'lack of absolute sanitation' is good for you and keeps your immunities up. Germaphobes drive me nuts...Michael Jackson, Jerry Seinfeld, Howie Mandel.


[Edited on 7-13-2012 by MitchMan]

DianaT - 7-13-2012 at 11:20 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by MitchMan

Prepared and packaged food in Baja seems to have more preservatives in it than in the USA (that's my guess) as such foods seem to last longer in than same stuff obtained in USA.


That reminds me of Bimbo Bread --- it never molds and it never goes stale!

bigmike58 - 7-13-2012 at 11:27 AM

You guy's are starting to give me the hebegebee's about the taco's I love to eat........




Cypress - 7-13-2012 at 11:53 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by MitchMan
I think a certain amount of 'lack of absolute sanitation' is good for you and keeps your immunities up. Germaphobes drive me nuts...Michael Jackson, Jerry Seinfeld, Howie Mandel.
[Edited on 7-13-2012 by MitchMan]

Life isn't germ-free.:biggrin: