Refrigeration is over-rated.

[ursus arctos]

It is five seconds over here, no doubt reflecting old exchange rates

[Gangster Octopus]

Five second rule.

[Sporting]

Maybe my stomach is strange. I often reheat rice with no ill-effects, eat unpeeled fruit straight from the market stall. Yeah, I admit I got diarrhoea from untreated water in Africa so I'm not a robot.

[Wouter D]

The four-second rule: surely a random number plucked out of the air, vaguely similar to the weekly alcohol units limit?

So? That holds for so many rules.

[Sporting]

Yes, I agree.

[Bored Of Education]

i once shared a flat with a best mate. We got on about nearly everything, but nearly came to blows over whether bread should live in the fridge or not (it shouldn't).

It should be in a bread bin or the freezer. I favour the latter but only as I only eat toast.

[San Bernardhinault]

Bread in the US - except that sold by Trader Joe's which moulds up very fast - has a bizarre quality that it seem to not age. It often doesn't grow mould or go stale in 2 weeks. God knows what they make it with.

[Toby Gymshorts]

I'm very much looking forward to US food standards when the UK cuts its own nose off to spite its face.

Chlorinated chicken in drywall bread. Triffic.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Bread in the US - except that sold by Trader Joe's which moulds up very fast - has a bizarre quality that it seem to not age. It often doesn't grow mould or go stale in 2 weeks. God knows what they make it with.

The Believer published a fascinating article on just that a couple of years back. Basically there's a government approved formula devised in the 1930s when malnutrition was becoming a serious problem. Bakeries that used traditional methods of bread-making couldn't produce bread to be shipped in enough quantity, and newer industrialised manufacture didn't provide the required nutrients. So scientists came up with an additive formula that allowed bread to made faster, last longer, and provide the required vitamins and calories. It's still in use.

[Sporting]

What does it taste like?

[San Bernardhinault]

It usually tastes like a fluffy form of sweetened cardboard.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Standard packaged white bread. Very yeasty (it has more of the "bakery scent" than traditionally baked bread, partly because it rises so fast) Moist, with lots of "air," and not a lot of flavour.

[Sporting]

I'd rather have good bread which goes stale quickly, thanks. It's hardly that dear, is it?

[Amor de Cosmos]

I think most of us would these days. But it filled a massive need ninety years ago.

[3 Colours Red]

The Believer published a fascinating article on just that a couple of years back. Basically there's a government approved formula devised in the 1930s when malnutrition was becoming a serious problem. Bakeries that used traditional methods of bread-making couldn't produce bread to be shipped in enough quantity, and newer industrialised manufacture didn't provide the required nutrients. So scientists came up with an additive formula that allowed bread to made faster, last longer, and provide the required vitamins and calories. It's still in use.

It usually tastes like a fluffy form of sweetened cardboard.

That's the sugar. Lots of sugar.

[Bored Of Education]

The Believer published a fascinating article on just that a couple of years back. Basically there's a government approved formula devised in the 1930s when malnutrition was becoming a serious problem. Bakeries that used traditional methods of bread-making couldn't produce bread to be shipped in enough quantity, and newer industrialised manufacture didn't provide the required nutrients. So scientists came up with an additive formula that allowed bread to made faster, last longer, and provide the required vitamins and calories. It's still in use.

Reminds me of those 14 year old McDonalds Happy Meals that won't rot.