10 Ways to Understand Whether You’re Dealing With Fresh Products or Not

When we go to a store, we might get lost in the variety of products offered. Eggs alone can be presented by a dozen different manufacturers. We can assess the freshness and quality of some products right in the supermarket or at the market, while others can only be checked after coming home.

We at Bright Side want to save money when buying products and not poison ourselves with bad-quality food. This is why we learned the tricks that can help you buy fresh and useful food.

An egg is fresh if the yolk is in the middle.

When you break an egg, look at the yolk. If it is located in the middle and there is a clear circle of whites around it, it means this egg is fresh. Also, the yolk itself should be voluminous. If it’s flat, don’t eat it. If the white doesn’t have clear borders and if the egg spreads, then this may be a sign that you are dealing with spoiled food.

Here is another way to tell an egg’s quality: place a raw egg (still in the shell) into water. If it stays on the bottom, it is good to consume. If one of its sides comes up, it means the egg is not that fresh but still edible. If it comes up to the water’s surface, you need to throw it away.

An avocado’s freshness can be checked by its “tail.”

There is an easy way to check and see how fresh an avocado is. Look at its “tail.” Try to take it off — if it’s easy to do, this means the avocado is fresh. If the “tail” is hard to take out, this means the fruit is not ripe yet.

A good pumpkin sounds “empty.”

In order to find out how good the pumpkin you are holding is, knock on it. Listen to the sound. If it sounds as if it’s empty inside, this product is worth buying. On the outer side, the fruit should look solid.

Yogurt that’s become layered shouldn’t be thrown away.

Sometimes we dispose of products that are still good to eat. For example, when there is a layer of liquid that appears on top of the yogurt — this product can be consumed. This is whey that has nutrients. It is safe to eat, so you can simply stir the yogurt to get a more smooth consistency.

Fish should be tight.

Always check the texture of fresh fish. Press down on its body with your finger. The meat should return to its previous shape, and the scales should be firm and tight. Also, make sure to look into the fish’s eyes: they should be free of a white layer and not sunken.

There should be no liquid around chicken.

When choosing a chicken, opt for the pieces that don’t have much liquid around them. If you take out a frozen chicken from the freezer and there is a lot of ice around the product as if the chicken is lying in a frozen puddle, it’s not safe to eat this meat. On that note, make sure to avoid chicken with skin that is too red.

It is easy to detect adulterated coconut oil.

It is easy to detect the presence of adulterants in coconut oil. Place it in the fridge for 30 minutes. Coconut oil will become solid and other adulterant oils will detach and appear as a separate layer.

There should be no stains under the first layer of onion peel.

Take an onion and check to see how it looks under the first layer of peel. If you see stains that look as if the peel has faded, it means there is some mold on the onion. You’d better not buy this vegetable.

It’s better to choose saturated yellow lemons.

It’s easy to determine the ripeness of a lemon by eye. The rich yellow color and smoothness of the skin are signs by which you can recognize that the fruit is ripe. A pale yellow color and greenish tint mean that you’d better not buy the lemon.

Buy coffee in beans.

Coffee lovers are advised to not buy ground coffee because this product, which is loved by so many people, is often falsified. It is difficult to say what exactly is there in this powder. Acorns, popcorn, and sawdust can be added to ground coffee. And you’d hardly want to buy a product like this. To avoid this, you can purchase coffee beans and grind them yourself or in the store where you bought them.

How do you choose good quality and useful products?