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Today I peeled a parsley root for soup and discovered it has red/pink spots all over it. It did not look unusual before peeling. I bought it in a supermarket about a week ago, five pieces packaged in plastic together, and kept it in fridge since.

I know that parsley root is rarely spotless, but the amount of spots on this one surprised me. Otherwise it smells and feels just like parsley root.

Is it safe to eat? Is it some kind of mold or other disease that's better to throw away?

peeled parsley root with pink spots

EDIT Today (one day later) I peeled another parsley root from the same package (the unpeeled one in the picture above) and it seems fine, with no signs of pink whatsoever.

One more thing: According to the text on the packaging the parsley was grown in Czechia, which is where I am.

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This is an abstract of a paper called Erwinia persicina associated with a pink rot of parsley root in Germany

This contains the following text fragment:

may be latently contaminated with both E. persicina and Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum. The latter in particular might be part of a complex of factors leading to the distinctively severe symptoms observed.

(Bolding added by me.)

I don't think I'd eat it myself; I might even report it to the place I bought it - they should know that they have been supplied bad food so that they can do something about it, hopefully.

Added: I'n not actually sure whether the 'severe symptoms' apply to the root itself, or to possible consumers of it. Take a bet?)

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  • +1 for finding it, and posting here. But you don't have to take a bet on the "severe symptoms" sentence - see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erwinia, this is a plant pathogen.
    – rumtscho ♦
    Commented Jan 26, 2022 at 14:23
  • @rumtscho - sure, but that WP page includes Salmonella as one of the family. Salmonella may be a plant pathogen, but it's also a human pathogen! The rest of the family may actually be innocent, but it's still a bet, I'm afraid.....
    – simon at rcl
    Commented Jan 26, 2022 at 14:30
  • nice find, thanks! the mentioned paper includes pictures of the infected roots and rather than pink dots it shows a continuous pink discoloration of about half of the root. but it might be a related disease.
    – MinistrChleba
    Commented Jan 26, 2022 at 16:28

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