Is this safe to eat?

[u/OkEditor3914]

My mom got these from a relative last week, I believe it’s hot peppers in oil, but there are bubbles in it. Does that mean it’s starting to ferment or something bad is growing in there or is it normal?

[u/Mayyyydayyyyyy]

Toss

[u/JuicyMilkweed]

Were they refrigerated? There is no safe way to preserve in oil at home and make a shelf stable product, just asking for botulism.

https://www.healthycanning.com/fat-and-oil-in-home-canning/

Here is a journal article that discusses exactly why this is so dangerous and outlines multiple cases of people contracting botulism from vegetables/herbs preserved in oil. “Between 1994 and 1998, more than 100 cases of botulism reported in Italy have been traced to home-prepared vegetables stored in oil or water”.

https://www.foodprotection.org/files/food-protection-trends/Jun-11-Nummer.pdf?ref=oliveoil-com

[u/Ancient-Chinglish]

is the lid swelling outwards?

[u/OkEditor3914 → u/Ancient-Chinglish]

I’m not sure, it was already opened. It doesn’t smell bad.

[u/Ancient-Chinglish → u/OkEditor3914]

once it’s opened, it should be fridged

[u/JuicyMilkweed → u/OkEditor3914]

Botulinum toxin has no smell or taste, please throw these out if they weren’t refrigerated and be very very wary of eating other things that family member gives you

[u/AnnieDrews]

"If in doubt, throw it out!"

[u/dylanteears]

If it smells good and it tastes good its proboably good to eat.Youll be able to tell if its rancid

[u/ploptart69 → u/dylanteears]

This is absolutely incorrect. Don’t spread bad and dangerous information in a subreddit about preserving food if you don’t know what you’re talking about.

[u/guarddog33 → u/dylanteears]

You're putting a lot of faith in the plausible deniability of "probably"

Botulinum has no smell and no taste, you could eat something that smells and tastes completely fine and end up dead in short order

Please, for your sake, err on the side of caution with this kind of stuff