The microbes commonly associated with foodborne illness, such as listeria and salmonella, are near impossible to pick up by smell, says a Quadram Institute food safety researcher.
sliced chicken
I should know better because I’m a microbiologist, and I know that the microbes that I might be worried about making me sick have no smell. Yet, there I am, trying and failing to give myself confidence with the old sniff test. Even if present - and the risk is thankfully relatively low - these bacteria would probably be at such a small amount in the food that any metabolic action would be entirely imperceptible to our noses.Also, any eau de listeria would be indistinguishable from the minor odours that would be made by the more abundant microbial species that are common and expected to be on our foods, and which cause us no health concerns.
If this pathogen was ever present on the tomato, it was probably introduced by contaminated water on the farm while the tomato was growing, so it is not on the surface of the tomato but within the tomato and doubly impossible to smell.But it is possible to detect when food is spoiled - another action of microbes, as they eat away at food that has been left for too long or has been in the wrong storage conditions.
While my wife disagrees with the aromatic attributes of some fermented foods, such as kimchi, and has banned them from the house, these are definitely not spoiled and should not be destined for the bin.
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