SC - vegetables

[Philip & Susan Troy]

lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:

> According to food safety documentation i've read, commercially made
> mayo has a higher acid content than homemade and is safer to leave
> out as the high acid content makes it a poor host for bacteria.
> 
> Homemade spoils much more quickly as it is less acidic and therefore
> a better host to bacteria that cause problems, such as intestinal
> upset or death. This is also, theoretically at least, because a home
> kitchen is not as hygienic as a commercial kitchen and bacteria can
> be introduced while it's being made, from utensils, etc.

I'm not sure if a pH difference is a significant part of the real
difference, but the far greater proportion of egg yolks in homemade mayo
(a gallon of homemade mayo usually has 16 yolks, while commercial is
more like 6), the fact that homemade uses raw, unpasteurized yolks,
while commercial mayo uses pasteurized yolks, if not pasteurized whole
eggs, and then there are the whacking great scads of things like EDTA
added to commercial mayo (often ironically labelled "Real Mayonnaise").

All that being said, however, homemade mayo does have a fairly long
shelf life, compared to a lot of other egg-based foods, presumably due
to the acid and the fact that its emulsified state is a good way to
protect the bulk of it from contact with air.

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com