Urgent question! (Light hearted but I do need an answer!)

[SpidersAreShitheads]

Sorry for posting in AIBU but I have an urgent and pressing question that I'm sure the people in my phone will be able to answer.

I was planning on quiche for dinner tonight. I'm running late and now I'm starving hungry so need to eat asap - I usually just chuck the quiche in the oven from frozen. Only problem is that I bought a different flavour of quiche and I just noticed on the back that it says not suitable for freezing. Bollocks.

So, will I die horribly if I heat it up and eat it anyway? Or will I just suffer from the indignity of a slightly soggy crust and watery topping? It's not meat - it's a Tesco Vegetable and Sun-dried Tomato Quiche. Quite honestly it looks fucking delicious and I want to eat it. But equally I don't really fancy me and DP fighting over our one and only bathroom while the effects pour out of either end.

So, what should I do?

YABU - Don't eat it! You'll die horribly from quiche-inflicted illness.

YANBU - Scoff it down. Tesco are just protecting you from soggy pastry.

Please help me. I'm staring sadly at my quiche box and don't know whether to risk it.

Heat, scoff. All good.

I wouldn't, it may have been previously frozen.

I assume it will say that because one of the ingredients has previously been frozen. I tend to think that's an excess of care on their part, and I'd probably risk it, but ultimately that is a rule they've put in place to reduce the risk of a build up of bacteria.

Just make sure it’s properly hot all the way through it’ll be fine

Just make sure it’s properly headed through, it’ll be absolutely fine.

I wouldn’t eat it, it’s probably been previously frozen. But the mumsnet majority always says it’s fine to eat it regardless of what it is.

I def would eat it.

I would. Just make sure it’s superduper hot.

Thank you all!

Those are the ingredients. probably nothing massively high risk re bacteria even if it was previously frozen, ie/no meat or rice?

Also, I thought the packets normally say if it’s previously been frozen and thawed?

Google says it’s generally fine to re-freeze food, although quality might be reduced. So with no meat in there I’d def go for it.

Nah you’ll be fine. Eat it!

I would!

I would eat it

Yes, this is what I thought @fuchiaknickers!

I'm going to risk it but will just heat it up to the temperature of a nuclear blast.

I always see warnings on the back of Tesco packaging that says "previously frozen" so I'd be surprised if they didn't include this if it was. I do appreciate it's a slight risk though.

I'll report back and let you know if I died. Hopefully I'll still be able to access the internet from the afterlife if needed.

Thank you all for the super speedy replies!

It says not suitable for freezing, which means it might not freeze and defrost well- soggy, separated ingredients etc

Do not freeze means it is not safe to freeze.

Or so I‘ve heard….

Yes. Supermarkets are super vigilant JUST IN CASE. It's not necessarily a food safety issue but to do with quality. Some of the ingredients may not freeze well, such as tomato which mushes up a bit on thawing (Freezing commercially is done at much lower temperatures( minus 31C) causing less cell damage. Domestic freezers freeze at approx minus 18 and causes formation of large ice crystals) Hope this makes sense

It's the proteins you need to be careful with when reheating - in this case, the eggs. I would imagine it would say on the packaging if it had been previously frozen. I suspect that it's the fragility of the product that makes it unsuitable for freezing and it might lose its taste / shape. It'll be fine if it's cooked properly. My BIL was a chef for many years and said the rule was re freeze up to 3x, then chuck it out!

The law on food safety in commercial situations says do not refreeze a product that has been previously frozen. 3 times is positively dangerous. Good to know our chefs know basic food safety.

He was talking about frozen food that had then been cooked and was subsequently frozen again. That is perfectly safe.

Not according to food.gov.uk

Freezing or refreezing of an ambient or chilled food product, including surplus food, is generally permitted. This is subject to the hygiene conditions set down in retained EU law Regulation (EC) 852/2004 and, if relevant, retained EU law Regulation (EC) 853/2004. Exceptions are described in the legislative requirementss_ section.
You must carry out freezing of the food safely and maintain cold temperatures. It is unlikely that this would lead to microbiological safety issues if commercial defrosting, processing and refreezing are carried out in a controlled way. This requires application of time and temperature combinations that prevent the growth of pathogens and hygienic conditions.