How long foods keep and how refrigeration, containers, temperature and storage conditions affect quality and safety.
A celery stalk that bends has often lost moisture. If it is dry and sound with no slime, mold, watery rot, or off odor, it is still usable even though the crunch has faded.
Yellowing usually points to overmaturity or storage-related quality loss rather than spoilage by itself. A firm, sound yellow cucumber can still be eaten, though the skin may be tougher and the seeds larger.
Wrinkles and slight flexibility usually mean water loss rather than rot. A sound cucumber can still be used, especially in recipes where crunch matters less; slime, mold, water-soaked breakdown, or bad odor mean discard.
A bendy carrot is usually dehydrated, not automatically bad. If it is dry, clean, and normal-smelling with no slimy or water-soaked rot, it is still usable, especially in cooked dishes.
A dry, even white haze on peeled carrots is usually white blush caused by surface dehydration, not mold. Rinse or rehydrate them; fuzzy growth, slime, wet rot, or off odors are different warning signs.
A very soft tomato can simply be overripe. If the skin is intact, the smell is normal, and there is no mold, slime, leaking, or water-soaked decay, use it that day. Fermentation or collapsing tissue means discard it.
A faint bitter edge can occur in stressed or overmature cucumbers, especially near the stem end. If the flavor is strikingly, unpleasantly bitter throughout, stop eating it and discard the cucumber.
A wrinkled bell pepper is usually dehydrated, not automatically spoiled. If the flesh is still firm and there is no mold, slime, wet rot, leaking liquid, or off odor, it can usually be cooked and eaten.
A sunken spot is not automatically rot. A small dry, firm defect can often be trimmed; wet, translucent, slimy, mushy, moldy, or spreading tissue is a reason to discard the pepper.
A dry, healed crack on an otherwise firm tomato is usually a quality issue and can be trimmed. A wet split with mold, slime, off odor, or decaying flesh is a reason to discard the tomato.
A mealy or grainy tomato is not automatically bad. Variety, over-ripening, and chilling can change texture; if the fruit has no mold, slime, off odor, or decay, it is generally usable.
A few dark or black seeds can develop with maturity or storage and do not automatically make a firm, clean pepper unsafe. Fuzzy growth, wet rot, slime, softness, or an off odor is a reason to discard it.