# Has Anyone Ever Been Poisoned By Condiments (in  little bags)?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-poisoned-by-condiments-in-little-bags/430451>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 18, 2007, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-poisoned-by-condiments-in-little-bags/430451 "2007-12-18T13:25:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-poisoned-by-condiments-in-little-bags/430451/1 "2007-12-18T13:25:58Z")

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Those little bags of ketchup and mustard (and sweet and sour sauce)-I have never seen expiration dates on them. So, has anyone ever died from consuming a 30-year old bag of ketchup? I’m sure McDonald’s has sufficient turnover that you wouldn’t find an ancient bag of ketcup-but what about a smaller operation? Or are these things so loaded with preservatives that no bug can thrive in them?

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**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-poisoned-by-condiments-in-little-bags/430451/2 "2007-12-18T13:33:57Z")

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An aged parcel of ketchup could become fairly exotic-smelling but I doubt it would kill anybody. Ketchup contains a lot of sugar… I happened to find out by accident that fermentation is what happens to it. At this Arby’s I once frequented, they had this habit of leaving the ketchup unrefrigerated well beyond whatever the leave-unrefrigerated-on-table date is. At first I thought it was just some nuance of the Arby’s ketchup until one day I got hold of a bottle that reeked thoroughly of the unmistakable products of alcoholic fermentation, after which I talked to the manager and got to the bottom of it.

Just think, 200 years from now when late-20th-century American food is considered haute cuisine on Mars or god knows where, they’ll probably be selling Heinz 57-years barrel-aged charcoal-filtered ketchup as an artisan condiment.

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**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-poisoned-by-condiments-in-little-bags/430451/3 "2007-12-18T16:14:07Z")

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I picked up a mayonnaise packet at a fast food restaurant and, when I squeezed it on my sandwich, discovered that the contents had separated into some oily liquid and a gelatinous goo that vaguely resembled semen. I lost my appetite and never went back there.

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**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-poisoned-by-condiments-in-little-bags/430451/4 "2007-12-18T20:10:30Z")

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[Moderator Hat ON]

Moved to GQ

[Moderator Hat OFF]