A popular method for preserving avocados could be bad for your health. Photo / NZ Herald
A popular method for preserving avocados could be bad for your health. Photo / NZ Herald
With avocado season well and truly on the way, we’re all on the hunt for the perfect method to keep them fresher for longer.
One avo lover has revealed how he keeps them ripe for up to four weeks - but health experts are warning there could be a hidden danger in the hack.
According to the Daily Mail, Dublin man Reamonn has discovered the secret to perfectly ripe avos for your morning toast - placing them in an airtight container filled with water and leaving it in the fridge.
Four weeks after he first stored them, he cut them open to discover they were perfectly ripe and ready to be devoured.
“I never believed this would work, but the avocado is fresh and ripe. I’m converted!” he wrote online.
He’s not the first to make this discovery - in 2021, another man, who posts videos on TikTok under the handle @sidneyraz, also tried out the hack and shared the results in a clip, telling viewers, “It does look like it worked, no brown ... still just as ripe, too.”
But according to what we know about human pathogens, the hack poses a health risk as it could create the perfect environment for harmful bacteria.
Listeria and salmonella are some of the residual human pathogens that thrive in cold environments like the fridge and freezer, and both can lead to types of food poisoning that can severely affect your health.
A study carried out by the Journal of Food Poisoning in the US reveals that storing whole avocados in water probably isn’t a good idea.
“Research performed by FDA scientists has shown that listeria monocytogenes have the potential to infiltrate and internalise into the pulp of avocados when submerged in refrigerated dump tanks within 15 days during refrigerated storage,” the study reads.
“In this case, even surface disinfecting the avocado skin prior to slicing would not be able to remove the contamination.”
It's a popular method for keeping avocados fresh - but is it safe?
It’s best to avoid storing avocados in water or storing them in the fridge for longer than a few days, to stop bacteria from growing on the fruit.
However, many people have claimed they’ve been using the water method for years without seeing any negative health effects.
One woman wrote, “It definitely works. I’ve been doing this for years. You can freeze them whole, too”, while another shared, “I only ever eat half of my avocados at a time - the rest just goes in a container full of water in the fridge.”
“My mother taught me this hack and I’ve never forgotten it,” another added.
But if the thought of salmonella has put you off the popular hack, there are a few other methods you can try. If you have lemons on-hand, try squeezing some of the juice over cut avocado halves before storing them in the fridge. Olive oil can also be used to coat the cut surface of your avocados to keep them fresh, or you can simply store them alongside red onions to prevent them from ripening too fast.
