Francisco Diez-Gonzalez, director of the Center for Food Safety in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, spoke with Food & Wine about gunk people may find in your food and what to do about it.
When a couple went viral after sharing an unsavory experience involving finding black gunk in a can of strawberry-vanilla Olipop soda, questions about what to do if you find something gross in your food were raised.
“The most important step is to stop or avoid consumption,” said Diez-Gonzalez. “Then, return it to the store where you bought it.”
Purchasers should also have the lot number and expiration date of the food, along with a copy or photo of the receipt. He also recommended contacting a doctor if you develop “noticeable symptoms” after eating food with gunk in it.
“Depending on the problem with the product, a variety of symptoms can develop after consumption,” he said. “Food allergies are one of the defects that lead to symptoms to happen relatively quickly. With other types of problems such as foodborne pathogens, the symptoms can happen between a few hours to several days.”
