Three Ways Frugal Food Can Be Dangerous

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

There are some times when being frugal with your food can be dangerous. It is great to save money, but you don't want to compromise your safety, or the safety of your family, in order to be frugal. Here are some things to keep in mind.

The most recent announcement about a frugal food comes directly from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Apparently, they have discovered that brewing sun tea can be harmful to your health. I always liked brewing sun tea, because it uses only solar energy to make the tea, reducing your costs to brew. And iced tea is a great frugal drink in the summer. But the CDC warns that the water never gets hot enough to kill off any bacteria that may be lurking in the tea, and in fact, the warm water actually encourages that bacteria to grow. They suggest that tea lovers make refrigerator tea instead.

Don't try to save moldy food. While it is true that some hard cheeses might be safe if there is only a small amount of mold and you cut off a good amount of extra cheese around the mold, it just isn't the best idea to follow. If the mold is already on one part of the cheese, chances are that the spores are elsewhere, even if you can't see them.

And never, ever, save soft food that has mold, such as cream cheese, ricotta cheese, pasta sauce, etc. When in doubt, throw it out.

Dumpster diving food can be dangerous to your health. Many dumpster divers claim that it is safe, as long as you follow certain precautions, but my opinion is that with dumpster diving for food, there really are no guarantees. Of course, an argument can be made about there being no guarantees in the store, either. I once found a piece of glass in some ground turkey, for example, but at least there is a chain of responsibility that comes with food sold to the public. Dumpster dive for food and you are on your own if something isn't right.

Mary Ann Romans also writes for the Computing Blog here at Families.com where she shares everything from the latest news on technology to cool downloads and fun websites.

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, online content manager, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania in the middle of the woods but close enough to Target and Home Depot.

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