Freshness

How to tell with your eyes that food is still alive

The date on the pack is a hint. Nose and eye are kinder. Especially eggs, herbs, milk and fish. Throwing food away hurts; being ill hurts more.

Eggs

Lower into a glass of water: they sit on the bottom — fresh; they stand — still fine for baking; they float — do not fry them. Cracked: the yolk holds a dome, the white is not watery.

Milk and greens

Sour milk smells at once — do not ‘just put it in pancakes’ if it already ropes. Dill and parsley: the stem is springy, the leaf is not slimy. Wilted — into soup that day, not into a salad.

Fish and meat

Fish: clear eyes, red gills, a sea smell, not ammonia. Meat: even colour, clear juice, not sticky. If you doubt it — do not marinade ‘to cover it’. Just leave it.

These are starting figures for adults, not a medical prescription.