Is it safe to eat things like chips after a building fire?

I live in an apartment building. Another unit recently caught on fire, and the building was evacuated. Smoke was everywhere. No heat reached my part of the building. I have not seen any soot, either.

I tried googling it, but I haven’t been able to find a good answer that relates to things like chip packaging. They still have air in them, and the packaging doesn’t fully match the descriptions of what foods to throw away.

Are things like this ok to eat after smoke exposure, or should I throw *** every *** type of food out? Thanks in advance.

etchinghillside,

Only reading the title alone – I’m glad you’ve got your priorities right.

BobDobalina,

I’ve worked in fire restoration. If there was smoke, there will be soot. You can take a white cloth and rub it over surfaces in the apartment to see how bad it is. As for food, the general rule is when in doubt throw it out. If cans are blown out from heat, toss them. If food was exposed to smoke, toss it. If the power was out for a long time, you may have to toss any refrigerated or frozen food. If there was no smoke in your unit you might be fine.

Feel free to dm me if you have further questions.

intensely_human,

If you have to ask, you’re not hungry enough to take that risk. Toss those chips. Don’t take unnecessary chances with your body.

Paragone,

Upholstery-soot ( the fire-retardent version of polyester, etc ), is evil smog/fumes.

If your food was sealed-away from the smog/fumes, then it should be fine.

I’m saying that after learning 1st-hand how evil upholstery-smoke is.

( guy down the hall fell asleep with a cigarette )

_ /\ _

mrbubblesort,
mrbubblesort avatar

Seems you've gotten your answer, but leave an update after you eat and let us know how it went (and to make sure you didn't die :P )

chaorace,
@chaorace@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

People have put worse things in their bodies. Some mildly contaminated chips won’t kill you and probably won’t even give you cancer.

Let’s be honest, though… a standard bag of chips is already kind of bad for you – maybe you should toss them out because you’re better off without them either way? It’s just a bag of chips at the end of the day.

lowleveldata,

Who said it was only 1 bag of chips? Who only buys 1 bag of chips every time anyway?

LinkOpensChest_wav,

For a lot of people, chips are a treat, and they buy only a single bag occassionally

bartolomeo,

Unrelated but I kind of love that I heard your username

LinkOpensChest_wav,

Aha mission accomplished ;)

idiomaddict,

How many bags of chips do you buy at once?

MomoTimeToDie,

Usually 4, since I intend on not having to go back to the store for more again in a couple days

idiomaddict,

I think you might be picturing snack sized bags.

MomoTimeToDie,

Normal ass bags of chips.

idiomaddict,

Then to answer your initial question, I tend to buy one bag of chips with about 15 servings that I probably get about 5 servings out of every few shopping trips (maybe 1-2 times/month). I don’t eat chips every day, and don’t rely exclusively on chips for snacks, so I don’t keep multiple bags stocked.

JCPhoenix,
@JCPhoenix@beehaw.org avatar

I buy two at a time. And I can demolish a bag of chips in one sitting.

I try not to do that. I try REALLY hard not to. But sometimes it just happens, and I have no clue how. The chips just disappear somewhere 🤔

lowleveldata,

At least 3. 2 of the best flavor and 1 of a new flavor.

Synthead,

The soot from a building fire will absolutely give you cancer. Most deaths from a building fire are caused by the contaminants in the air and not the fire itself. It’s very nasty, and I wouldn’t shrug it off. At the very least, it will taste nasty. At most, it will give you health complications.

chaorace,
@chaorace@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

I think it’s a little unfair to escalate my talking about a presumably invisible and flavorless level of contamination into somehow advocating for choking down soot-blasted cancer nachos.

For the record: that’s not what I meant and I think any reasonable person would not have interpeted it as such having read the context of the post. It’s a sealed bag of chips – they have functioning taste buds and eyeballs for Pete’s sake!

theKalash,

Any food sealed in an air-tight package should be fine. Maybe wash the packaging before touching it and the food.

MapleCoffee,
@MapleCoffee@lemmy.ca avatar

Thank you for responding, I’ve never been through a situation like this

FaceDeer,
FaceDeer avatar

I would imagine that anything that's in an airtight sealed container, such as chip bags, would be fine. That would also include cans. Your refrigerator and freezer, also, would probably count as a sealed container.

Smoke in a building fire can contain all sorts of weird chemicals from burning plastics and whatnot that could get deposited onto stuff, so even if you can't see any soot in your apartment I wouldn't dismiss all concerns. How tight is your budget?

P1r4nha,

Yeah, I’d be generally concerned sleeping in the apartment, but your advice concerning the food seems sound.

tsonfeir,
@tsonfeir@lemm.ee avatar

Crack a window, then crack that mouth and pile in them chips 

bartolomeo,

Is it just me or this now vaguely sexual?

intensely_human,

Nothing’s sexier than slightly cracked open lips

MapleCoffee,
@MapleCoffee@lemmy.ca avatar

The budget isn’t super tight, but nothing is open yet where I am. I’m just a bit hungry at the moment, because I missed eating for most of yesterday.

When the stores do open, I’ll be at work and will have to wait until after my shift to buy more food.

I hadn’t heard about this aspect of fire safety before today, so I figured I would see if anyone on here knew more about it. Thank you for responding!

tsonfeir,
@tsonfeir@lemm.ee avatar

Don’t waste good chips on a silly worry like an asbestos fire.

MNByChoice,

If you can, perhaps talk with your boss about the situation. “I am hungry as my apartment building had a fire and all my food might be covered in toxins”, is a one off that gets some extra dispensation.

Edit: your response as 6 hours ago. You either are the chips, or are at work.

intensely_human,

I’m starting to think OP is the chips

radix,
@radix@lemm.ee avatar

I love the implication that, if they ate the chips, then they are not alive to be at work.

Synthead,

I’d wash sealed containers first, then go for it.

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