Today I found a punnet of fresh portobello mushrooms in the fridge. It has been sitting there for over a week. My MIL bought it but she is now away for a few days and would not be cooking it for the next few days.  So I decided to cook mushrooms omelet with it.  As I took the punnet of mushrooms out from the fridge, I noticed that the plastic cling wrap on the punnet was very oily. When I removed the plastic cling wrap, the mushrooms felt extremely slimy. Even after washing them under running water and soaking them, the mushrooms felt unusually slimy and I knew something wasn’t right!  Flashes of news that I had read in the past on fatal food poisoning of the entire family caused by consumption of fresh mushrooms  started to make me feel peevish and I was doubtful if I should really cook those mushrooms. I felt that it was really wasteful to bin the mushrooms that cost over RM10 but what is RM10 for buying peace of mind?  Since I wanted to know if it was safe to eat mushrooms that have turned slimy, I did what I normally would do to get the answer!   I raced to my computer and tapped…

This was what I found from eHow.com on ‘How To Know If Mushrooms Are Bad’

1) Look at the mushroom. Mushrooms should have evenly-colored flesh. Avoid using mushrooms if the skin is mushy, spotted or shriveled.

2) Feel the mushroom. Heavy, firm-fleshed mushrooms are ideal. The mushroom should be dry and relatively clean. Avoid mushrooms that have a slimy coating around them.

3) Look at the gills. Flip a mushroom over and look to see if the gills are open. Closed gills indicate mushrooms are young, while open gills signify that mushrooms are older. If the mushroom has shriveled or wet gills, they have spoiled.

Read more: How to Know if Mushrooms Are Bad | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_8456104_mushrooms-bad.html#ixzz2Pfo1MRq8

After reading this, I dumped the entire pack of mushrooms into the bin and cooked scrambled eggs with milk and herbs.   I felt so much relieved after getting the confirmation.