With the cost of living being so high, many of us are turning to social media for tips and tricks on how to make our money last longer. One such hack comes from TikTok which involves storing avocados in water to make them last longer.
Avocados are expensive and can go from being perfectly ripe to wrinkled, squishy and brown in what seems like an instant. At this point, most of us will throw the avocado out which is a huge waste of money.
While making food last longer and saving money in the process is a good thing, Scott Evans a storage expert at Pink Storage Cardiff has warned against the dangers of this hack. And while it can stop them from going brown it can leave people with a much bigger problem.
What is the hack?
The hack is simple, it involves submerging ripe avocados in a plastic container filled with water and storing it in the fridge. Usually, avocados last a few days before becoming oxidised but this hack can make them last for two to three weeks. Some social media users claim this hack allowed them to keep their avocados fresh for four weeks.
Avocados can cost upwards of 75p a time, so throwing them out in this current climate is a massive waste of money. With this in mind, many social media users have jumped on this trend to see if it works.
Scott says "When we came aware of this trend we saw that people were using this trick and that it was working for them. Submerging the avocado in water slows down the oxidisation process which causes your avocado to overripen. While it's clear that the hack does keep your avocados fresher for longer you shouldn't be using this social media hack as it is dangerous."
The dangers of this hack
Avocados stored at room temperature do go off quicker than those stored in water but there are serious safety issues with this hack that could cause anything from fever, muscle aches, diarrhoea and even miscarriage in pregnant women.
Scott says "The worry of this social media trend is that it does work, and the more that something works the more it is going to be shared on social media. We can appreciate why someone would go to these lengths to make their budget stretch further, but this hack is very dangerous and can cause serious health issues.
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"When you submerge your avocados in the water you are creating an environment that allows human pathogens such as listeria and salmonella to thrive. These pathogens can be present on the surface of avocado and when put in water they can multiply."
Listeriosis is a condition that is caused by eating foods that contain listeria bacteria and can cause serious problems for those who are pregnant, people over the age of 65, newborn babies and those with weakened immune systems. Listeriosis can also be life-threatening as it can lead to conditions such as sepsis and meningitis.
Nutritionist Toby King also weighed in on the dangers of this hack "Some social media users believe that they can disinfect the skins from these harmful pathogens but Listeria can infiltrate the pulp of the avocado when in storage. Disinfecting the skin in this instance wouldn't help."
A safer solution
Preventing your avocados from going brown is something many people have tried to fight against. Other hacks that people use include keeping the pit inside of the avocado, wrapping your avocado with cling film or even storing them with chopped-up onions.
The risk of food poisoning when using any of these hacks is very high so they should not be used in any circumstance. When it comes to avocados it's best to eat them within a few days of purchasing. If you do find yourself throwing out avocados try not to buy them in bulk and only purchase them when you expect to consume them.
