Hello, this may sound weird, but my husband works with a woman from Louisiana and she says that in Louisiana they don’t refrigerate mayonnaise. They keep it on the shelf. I said that she was crazy and they would all die of food poisoning, and to prove it I got out my Kraft mayo (from the fridge) to show him on the label where it says to keep it refrigerated, BUT IT DIDN’T SAY IT! I studied the whole label and nowhere did it say to “refrigerate after opening”. Does anyone know anything about this? Doesn’t mayonnaise have to be kept cold? If it does, shouldn’t the label say so?
Odd that the label doesn’t says so, the manufacturers seem to recomend it. Mayo is actually slightly acidic and can inhibit bacterial growth but all the manufacturers say it keeps its flavor better in the fridge anyway. As well there is the danger of cross contamination.
I am from Louisiana too and I can assure you that we did refrigerate mayonnaise after opening just like everyone else. I have never heard of this, um, tradition before. Is the woman, as they say in Mexico, loco?
I’ve got a jar of Kraft Free Miracle Whip here (that’s the fat-free stuff) and it says “Refrigerate After Opening” imprinted on the plastic lid on the top, but it’s not a very big imprinting, and it’s really hard to see unless you hold the jar at just the right angle to the light and look right down at it.
Oh, yuck, of course you should keep mayo in the fridge. It has eggs in it! I think the store-bought stuff is pasturized, but still…
The real question is why do people keep peanut butter in the fridge?
<eyebrow arched starchly in shock and dismay> Duck Duck Goose, rare is the moment of a lapse in judgement with you. Nay, this may yet be the first glimmering of such. I BEG of you- for those of us who consider a freshly opened jar of Hellman’s Mayonnaise to be one of life’s most sublime treats, never evereverevereverever equate Kraft Miracle Whip with mayo.
Some of the members of the A.G.H.A.S.T.( American Guild of Hellman’s Afficionados Serving in Tupperware )are all up in arms and such. Me, I’m awfull fond of your style and wit and am therefore disposed to let it “slide off the knife” as we say in the Condiments Biz. So I beg of thee, Ducky, never again. NEVAAAAHHHH !!!
<collapsing in a heap, writhing fingers clutching loosely at jar of Hellman’s, 99% empty but for a few meagre scrapings only fit for tongue or spatula >.
Sincerely yours,
Cartooniverse
I worked as a chef in a seafood restaurant for 10 years and we never kept mayo in the fridge and never had a single illness. If you put mayo in the fridge, you have to keep it in the fridge. If you don’t put it there to begin with it should be alright. We also tended to use the stuff pretty quickly, so it didn’t sit around at room temperature very long. Given the rate of use for a family its probably best to put it there and keep it there.
Yeah. Miracle Whip is not an abomination unto God.
The acidic nature of mayonnaise is probably enough to generally keep it from spoiling. But I wouldn’t risk it. Also, there is the cross-contamination issue. Who among us has not put the knife/spoon back into the jar after touching other foodstuffs?
If you use “natural” peanut butter-you know, the kind that separates?-keeping it in the fridge keeps it mixed. I don’t know why you would refrigerate the Skippy, though.
According to Ann Landers or Dear Abby sometime last year (unfortunately, I cannot remember when, or which sister), you don’t have to refrigerate commercially-made mayo. Someone wrote in, disgusted that their in-laws did not refrigerate mayo, and wondered how it was that they were “immune” to the effects of this. Ann/Abby called either a manufacturer or a “board of condiments” and found out the awful truth. Mayo manufacturers usually recommend that you refrigerate it because most people think it tastes better that way. Myself included.
I have no idea about Miracle Whip–I guess you’d have to call the number on the jar and ask. My parents always considered Miracle Whip to be “safer” when I was growing up, though, so it was the feature of school bag lunches for years. That’s why I was especially pissed to read Ann/Abby’s column.
(An aside to DuckDuckGoose–Miracle Whip is vile. Fat-free Miracle Whip is especially vile. Is that the stuff that has a pinkish cast to it? It is not mayonnaise. Not even close. Unfortunately, my in-laws equate pink Miracle Whip with mayo, and I forget this every time I go there. They ask, “Do you want a sandwich?” I say, “Sure!” They say, “Do you like mayo?” I say, “Of course.” By the time I notice that the “mayo” is pink and sweet (yuk), it’s too late. Nothing I can do if I want to preserve family harmony. If you eat it, that’s fine. But, do not call it “mayonnaise” and force it upon unsuspecting guests!)
I do refrigerate peanut butter. That’s because I buy the kind that is just ground-up peanuts and salt. If you don’t refrigerate it, the oil separates out and you have to mix it back in every single time. Also, I live in an apartment that has much more refrigerator space than cupboard space. I sometimes refrigerate condiments before I open them because there is room for them in the fridge, but not in the cupboard.
Ah, yes, this was one of those awful truths I learned in culinary school. Store-bought mayonnaise can be held at room temperature, due to all the stabilizers and the fact that the egg products are pasturized, so there should be no threat of salmonella.
On the other hand, home-made mayonnaise must be kept cold, and used within a few days of it being made.
I was just having a wee spot of fun with one of my most absolutely fave posters, Ducky. Let’s not pile on her here, she is much loved and respected. Condimental choices aside. 
As for the Pee Bee enn Jay issue. I’ve been a Pathmark Chunky Man for most of my life. The wifestrocity loves Skippy. Sometimes to make the In-Laws happy, I’ll hie on over to the local Heathatorium and get a jar of fresh ground. No matter what the brand, I refrigerate it simply because in our home, we don’t eat much of it. If it’s not ingested fast enough, it can become rancid. ( Yes folks, we’re talking months not weeks here ). The oil separation issue never occurred to me. I do it so it doesn’t spoil.
In adoration for (almost) all things Ducky,
Cartooniverse
By the way…
Mayonnaise is a very good thing, but aioli (a French/Italian form of mayonnaise, but made with olive oil) is really the condiment of the gods.
According to The Food Marketing Institute:
The Center for Food Safety and Quality Enhancement says that regular mayo has enough vinegar in it to stall salmonella groth and may help preserve other foods when mixed in (like chicken salad), but they also say:
Clearly, cross-contamination is a concern. The implication is that with regular useage, just double-dipping a knife into the mayo jar may be enough to introduce some contaminant that may encourage the mayo to spoil. Sure, if your kitchen is so clean that you can make microchips in it then your mayo is probably safe. But most kitchens are teaming with cooties and the mayo jar is a virtual petri dish.
I grew up in Louisiana and we kept mayonnaise on the shelf. I continue the tradition, but my sister recoiled in horror when I told her that I don’t refrigerate it.
Cajun Man said his family always kept mayonnaise in the fridge. (Do I really need to tell you Cajun Man is also from Louisiana?)
I’ve always kept my Miracle Whip AND my Hellman’s in the fridge. It’s good to know that I can forget and leave it out for a few hours without worrying too much.
I would never have thought of refrigerating peanut butter, either, until I moved into the apartment I now live in. I had a very slight problem with ants (3 or 4 very small ants around the kitchen windowsill.) I sealed off the cracks and forgot about it.
A week or two later I went to open my jar of peanut butter, which was in my closed pantry all the way across the rather large kitchen. ANT CITY! They were living in there even though there were no signs of ants anywhere outside that jar (and how’d they get in there?). I mentioned this to a friend who worked for an exterminator and he said that peanut butter is an ant magnet! :eek:
Separating/rancidity also are issues, but this is why I refrigerate the PB.