Question: when in Bonaire , I see mayo set out on the tables to eat with french fries..I don't understand how this product that contains eggs can be left out in the heat of the day without being harmful to eat...in the states we are drilled with keeping it refrigerated....anybody know ? also eggs are at room temp in the grocery stores not refrigerated.....

I KNOW..I think it's the vinegar. Also eggs are not refridgerated in Bonaire. Haaaaaaaaaaaa

Eggs are not refridgerated in Holland either, never had a problem, except when it was cracked... That did stink!!!

Commercial mayonnaise is made with pasteurized eggs, and does not contain salmonella bacteria. Home made mayonnaise contains raw eggs, and unless you get irradiated eggs, they contain salmonella. As does the outside of the shell of an egg, which is why you should always wash after handling eggs and egg trays and preparing food.
see Preventing Foodborne Illness

The CDC on salmonella: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/salment_g.htm

Very informative. I had stayed away from the mayo in Bonaire, now I won't. Masha danki!

More on Mayo:

mayo

Mare

Wow, you learn something every day! Carole

Yes Carole, and as we know mayo is part of a healthy balanced diet! :-) I have a couple of staples - salt, mayo and butter - at least one of those three has to be on everything I eat. :-)

Carl

According to a toxicology conference I attended, in the US, mayo is made acidic so that it can not support bacteria growth. The problem is what you add to the mayo. Example: eggs, chicken, tuna.
And by the way, you don't need to keep your ketchup in the fridge either.

well...that finally answers my question...the ketchup is always out in the heat too, but I never worried about that so much as the mayo..I never really like mayo on my fries anyway, but thanks everybody for the input....mayo on the funchi ????

Diver Debbi,

I e-mailed heinz, the brand of ketchup I use and asked them the simple question:
in the fridge or not?

they replied IN THE FRIDGE.

In a restaurant, there is so much turnover that the ketchup barely has time to go bad. In my home, not being a frequent ketchup user, in the fridge it goes.

Mare

diver debbi,

according to
http://www.heinz.com/jsp/consumer_faq.jsp

---

quote:

Should ketchup be refrigerated?
Because it is a very acidic product, ketchup does not spoil easily. Once opened, in order to maintain the product's quality more effectively, we do suggest that ketchup (and any other processed food) be refrigerated after opening because refrigeration retards spoilage.

---