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Unintentional bread experiment

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I had a trip planned in early October and was packed, including foodstuffs when I called it off.

I still have an unopened 8-pack of Arnold Sandwich Thins (Healthy Multi-Grain). The “Best by” date on the package is 10/4/14. They are now 7 weeks old, still soft, no sign of mold or blemish. They looks and feel like the day I bought them.

http://arnoldbread.com/products?tab=...thinsreg-rolls

7 weeks. There must be some a lot of preservative in the bread or some gas sealed in the packaging.

Question is, should I open the package and try one? Leave it factory sealed until it show some sign of age or inedibility? Open the package, take one out, re-seal the package and see how much longer they last?
 
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I don't know who this Arnold guy is, or what his bread looks like, but I don't trust packaged flat pita type bread. There's a limit to any packaged bread, but I've had the worst of luck with those pita breads. We'd no sooner open a "fresh" pack barely a day old at our first campsite and...yuck. There'd be moldy blooms already happening. Some people rave about pita pizzas for canoe tripping. I've given up on them. I'd rather make my own flat bread the hard and imperfect way, including pizza. It's said that imperfect looking breads have character. Trust me, mine have loads of it. I'd guess that as soon as you crack open that seal Mike, you'll kick start the bacterial bloom that'll put your old school science experiments to shame. Or maybe not. Like you say, there might be preservatives in the bread. I've gotten halfway through a sandwich at home before recognizing the funny coloured crusty edges. I'm still here and healthy. Mostly. I tend to forget to look at the tiny Best Before tattoos on our food packages. Let us know how the experiment goes.
You've had all your shots, right?
 
I think it would be safe to say there are some preservatives in there. Can't imagine any bread without them lasting more than a week without starting to grow mold or tasting fresh/good after more than a few days. When I bake bread at home anything that I can't eat within 2 days goes in the freezer. If left out longer than that it's gets noticeably dry/stale and not long after spots start appearing.

But for the sake of experimentation I think you should cut the loaf in half, or maybe even thirds or fourths, so you can better experiment. A little should be eaten now and notes taken on it's taste, texture, and side effects. Some can be sealed up and put in a zip-lock on the counter. Another portion sealed in a zip-lock in the fridge (to better mimic winter traveling) and some should be left out and only loosely wrapped. Every couple days take a sample from each package, keeping careful notes and posting here daily with updates. When we stop seeing you post updates we'll know how long we can, or perhaps I should say can't, push it.

Bon Appetit!

Alan
 
I think it would be safe to say there are some preservatives in there. Can't imagine any bread without them lasting more than a week without starting to grow mold or tasting fresh/good after more than a few days.

I wonder if there is some preservative gas in the packaging as well. Those sandwich rounds come in a sealed plastic bag, not a twist tie or zip lock, but sealed airtight sealed.

I have eaten them 3 weeks into a trip with no ill-effect and they seemed OK, if perhaps a bit dry after the original sealed packaging had been opened for a few days.


But for the sake of experimentation I think you should cut the loaf in half, or maybe even thirds or fourths, so you can better experiment. A little should be eaten now and notes taken on it's taste, texture, and side effects. Some can be sealed up and put in a zip-lock on the counter. Another portion sealed in a zip-lock in the fridge (to better mimic winter traveling) and some should be left out and only loosely wrapped. Every couple days take a sample from each package, keeping careful notes and posting here daily with updates. When we stop seeing you post updates we'll know how long we can, or perhaps I should say can't, push it.

Hey, I’m easy to talk into experiments.

There were the standard 8 sandwich rounds in the package.Two are in a zip lock in the refrigerator. Two are in their original packaging (which includes a zip lock below the seal) in a zip lock on the counter. Two are in just a zip lock on the counter. One is naked to the world of floating bacteria and fungi.

And one has been smeared with a little peanut butter. A careful inspection of one reveals no mold or apparent discoloration. Here goes.

Taste – Not bad. Pretty much what they taste like a day out of the store.I cleaned my pallet with sips of Yuengling Black & Tan between bites.

Texture – Again, about what they are like fresh. Still agreeably breadlike and moist.

Aftertaste – Pleasing notes of caramel, coffee and dark roast malt, with a peanut butter finish.

After effects – To be contemplated over another Black & tan.
 
....Here goes.

Taste – Not bad. Pretty much what they taste like a day out of the store.I cleaned my pallet with sips of Yuengling Black & Tan between bites.

Texture – Again, about what they are like fresh. Still agreeably breadlike and moist.

Aftertaste – Pleasing notes of caramel, coffee and dark roast malt, with a peanut butter finish.

After effects – To be contemplated over another Black & tan.

Now that's my kind of experiment protocol :D
 
I'm guessing the experiment was brought about by Black & Tan. I've eaten some weird things when I was drunk too, one being a three week old quisch. My buddy, the science teacher, double-dog-dared me, so I had to do it. After eating, he showed me a flow chart in one of his science textbooks of a chicken, an egg, and then a guy in a hospital bed. Fortunately, the booze killed off any bugs, I hope the same is true for our friend Mike.
 
For the sake of a few bucks you should just pitch it, and the savings you realize from not visiting the ER can be used to purchase more Black and Tan.

But seriously, if there is no visible signs of spoiling and there is not distinct smell of spoiling it would almost certainly be okay to consume. This goes for most food. We are too fixated on Best Before dates that are put there by manufacturers whose goal is to sell more products and not get sued.

PS, great story memaquay
 
Our daughter once worked as an inspector for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. She inspected everything from imported plants to seafood, imported lumber to the wooden pallets equipment was shipped on. It was scary to hear what some people were trying to get away with. Plants harbouring invasive pests, shellfish waay past due date...But, we tend to live in fear don't we? The safety of our agriculture sector and food supply is important, but I tend to just scrape off the mould from my cheddar before I slice it. I guess we can keep everything in perspective and proportion. If the yogurt is crawling out of the tub on it's own, I'll set it free down the toilet. But if everything smells, looks, tastes kinda okay, I'll live on the wild side and just trust my gut. Or I'll push it to the back of the fridge and continue the experiment.
 
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Well Mike, much as I admire your sense of adventure, I can't help think that this isn't a good path to go down. Perhaps if you think of the "food" as a petri dish where you are growing ...........what? The longer the nutrient medium is open and available for growth, of course the larger the population of any pathogen that will be ingested. Rotsa ruck. Ask any public health worker what pathogens are present in the local community, it might make you look at mother nature a little differently.

I hate to waste things, food included. I remember being hectored as a child: "Eat your broccoli and liver, there are little kids starving in Armenia who would love to have it!" and the universal: "Clean you plate, waste not, want not!" All of which was true and it did make an impression.

But when I discover some amazing science experiment lurking in the far back reaches of the icebox, overlooked for some lethal amount of time, I just remember the last time I had to fish my glasses out of the toilet bowl, dropped while heaving up my innards, it's flat easy to pitch the stuff out.

Sissy Rob
 
Well Mike, much as I admire your sense of adventure, I can't help think that this isn't a good path to go down. Sissy Rob

It was never my intention to go more than one step down the path. I was pretty certain that bread was still “fresh” and edible after 7 weeks. Again, I’ve eaten it 3 week in and it was fine. I think it must have something to do with the air-tight sealed bag. And lots of preservatives.

But I really did do the experiment, and the piece I ate tasted fine.The unbagged and exposed to air piece is almost fully hard. But it still shows no sign of any mold or bacteria. The zip locked bagged pieces all still appear edible and same as ever.

I’m not planning on eating anymore of them, but I really do want to see the experiment through, at least in terms of appearance and texture. I’m leaving on a trip soon, so I guess the bread experiment is coming with me.

Dammit Alan, see what you’ve done!
 
Bread update

Remember this stuff?



Four months later, still no sign of mold. The piece with the string attached was hanging open air in a cockroach filled husbandry building for 2 months and the bagged stuff is still squishy bread-like.

This stuff is like the Twinkie of the bread world.
 
That's funny. I thought cockroaches would eat anything? Maybe they dislike grainy birdseed-like breads as much as I do? The Arnold website boasts these thins contain no additives or preservatives. I suspect they also contain no moisture. Specimens of perfectly dry bread. I'm amazed. My mom once made a batch of cookies my brothers and I used as ammunition against one another. We got heck, not for "playing with our food". Nope. But because we'd get hurt, or worse. Break a window. So Mike. Next step of this experiment. What's the HRC on these?

ps That bread pendant would look kinda -bling- on a canoe trip. A piece of personal survival jewelry?
 
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Mike around here a Black and Tan is a coon hound. I'd be more worried about licking the dog than eating pita bread.

Brad said, "If the yogurt is crawling out of the tub on it's own, I'll set it free down the toilet."

Brad I like fruit flavored yogurt about three months past the expiration date. It gets kind a of bitey tang to it. I think it ferments. It also gets watery on top so you have to shake it all back together before you open it. One time I noticed that the inner seal under the lid was loose but I had already shook it up and it seemed fine and tasted normal. I had half of it eaten before I figured out that the fuzzy lumps weren't strawberries. I suffered no Ill effects. Dave
 
Tell you what Mike, you eat the bread and I'll eat the news paper. We can flip for the string.

Rob
 
Brad I like fruit flavored yogurt about three months past the expiration date. It gets kind a of bitey tang to it. I think it ferments. It also gets watery on top so you have to shake it all back together before you open it. One time I noticed that the inner seal under the lid was loose but I had already shook it up and it seemed fine and tasted normal. I had half of it eaten before I figured out that the fuzzy lumps weren't strawberries. I suffered no Ill effects. Dave

It's not polite to leave us hanging is suspense. I've been wondering for days but am almost afraid to ask, but here goes: Did you finish the 2nd half?

Alan
 
The Arnold website boasts these thins contain no additives or preservatives. I suspect they also contain no moisture. Specimens of perfectly dry bread

I begin to doubt Arnold’s claims. The now 4 month old pieces that were bagged (or double bagged) still feel as moist as when first purchased. Even the pendant one that has been hanging for 4 months isn’t completely cracker like. WTF, how can 4 month old “bread” still be mold-free and moist-like pliable?

So Mike. Next step of this experiment.

ps That bread pendant would look kinda -bling- on a canoe trip.

Beyond checking them again in a few months I am lost as to a next step. I have ruled out eating them, and I’ve begun to question my own wisdom of having previously eaten them, albeit with no ill effect, weeks into a long trip. Seriously, if they never look or feel any different from fresh how long is too long?

I guess I could bring the pendent hung biscuit on the next coastal trip and wear it while reclining in the dunes to check if the sea gulls are interested.
 
Anybody remember this stuff?


We called it hard tack, it came in a rectangular box too, with a row of about 12 "biscuits". When I told my mother I was hungry, she would give me one, six hours later I was still hungry, and my teeth were sore. When babies were teething, every Nova Scotian family I knew would give the squalling brat a piece of hard tack to keep it busy until it had a full mouth of chompers. Hard tack would last for years, and take about that long to eat too. I have to see if I can still buy some. It might be the ideal canoe snack food.

Anyway, Mike's bread sent me down memory lane.
 
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