What's that???

[Carmen de Cardenas]

I found this inside a bottle of lemon juice.

[Strange]

Could it be this?
Nostoc commune - A Cyanobacteria (Cyanobacteria Images)
Blue-green algae, recognition and eradication

 

(Though I don't know how it got into a lemonade bottle...)

 

Edit: Or Wood Ear Fungus? (but I don't know how that would get into the lemonade either!)

Edited January 9, 2014 by Strange

[pears]

What is the texture like? Does it come apart easily when you pull it? Does it have a particular smell (other than lemon juice )

[Carmen de Cardenas]

Could it be this?

Nostoc commune - A Cyanobacteria (Cyanobacteria Images)

Blue-green algae, recognition and eradication

 

(Though I don't know how it got into a lemonade bottle...)

 

Edit: Or Wood Ear Fungus? (but I don't know how that would get into the lemonade either!)

Many thanks! I'm still trying to figure out what kind of "monster" could be

[Phi for All]

The photo where you have it on the end of a knife makes it look like wet cardboard, but that would be easily identifiable. As pears asked, what's the texture? Are you convinced it's a plant? I've heard that coral reefs can be plagued by algae when the water gets too acidic, but I wouldn't have suspected it could grow in lemon juice.

[arc]

I think it looks like a peel that may have been somehow relocated farther down the production line, probably, unfortunately, on purpose if this facility is anything modern. Was this some kind of organic brand, a smaller regional operation? +1 on the pics by the way, how did you take the micro's?

Edited January 10, 2014 by arc

[StringJunky]

arc, on 10 Jan 2014 - 03:24 AM, said:

I think it looks like a peel that may have been somehow relocated farther down the production line, probably, unfortunately, on purpose if this facility is anything modern. Was this some kind of organic brand, a smaller regional operation? +1 on the pics by the way, how did you take the micro's?

I think this is the most likely answer.

[Carmen de Cardenas]

It's all wrinkled and it comes apart easily when I pull it. One side is pale and whitish and the other side is dark. The smell is bad but not so strong.
I took the pics putting the camera on the eyepieces of the microscope... quite exasperating but was the only way! Thanks everybody for the answers

[CharonY]

Fungus growing on some peel?

[StringJunky]

Carmen de Cardenas, on 10 Jan 2014 - 10:33 AM, said:

I took the pics putting the camera on the eyepieces of the microscope... quite exasperating but was the only way! Thanks everybody for the answers

Very Heath Robinson then. Well done.

[Carmen de Cardenas]

Very Heath Robinson then. Well done.

ahahaha exactly!

[fresh]

Fungus growing on some peel?

fungus is almost everywhere, why not on peel ? Go to peel an apple, wait and see....but i am not sure lemon juice accelerates the growth of fungus. ...

Edited January 10, 2014 by fresh

[StringJunky]

fresh, on 10 Jan 2014 - 12:59 PM, said:

fungus is almost everywhere, why not on peel ? Go to peel an apple, wait and see....but i am not sure lemon juice accelerates the growth of fungus. ...

I think you misinterpreted CharonY. It was an answer posed in the form of a question, rather than a direct statement. It leaves open an element of doubt.

 

StringJunky: What is my name?

 

Fresh: StringJunky?

[fresh]

I think you misinterpreted CharonY. It was an answer posed in the form of a question, rather than a direct statement. It leaves open an element of doubt.

 

StringJunky: What is my name?

 

Fresh: StringJunky?

thanks for your explanation.

By the way, could lemon juice/ cider/other fruit acid accelerate the growth of fungus ?

Edited January 10, 2014 by fresh

[CharonY]

Accelerate over what? As the far as sole medium juice has the advantage of being usually quite rich in sugars and other nutrients, however it also has a low pH which inhibits growth for many microbes.

So the acidity itself is more inhibitory than anything.

[fresh]

ok,it makes sense to me that acid inhibits the growth of fungus/bacteria. Chemically, what is the tar-like thing on peel ?

[Phi for All]

Accelerate over what? As the far as sole medium juice has the advantage of being usually quite rich in sugars and other nutrients, however it also has a low pH which inhibits growth for many microbes.

So the acidity itself is more inhibitory than anything.

 

That's what I was thinking, but couldn't rule out algae since it seems to like acidic waters.

 

I agree that arc's explanation seems best supported. Whitish on one side, darker on the other sounds like a part of the peel that's accidentally gotten processed into the bottle. Much more likely than some kind of growth.

 

I'd contact the manufacturer. In these days of instant social media, they'd probably send you a case of lemon juice to keep you from publicly complaining. And you'd be doing all their customers a favor by pointing out a possible glitch in their processing line.

Chemically, what is the tar-like thing on peel ?

 

I'm going to venture that it's some kind of grease or melted rubber from the bottling conveyor line. If it's a lemon peel that got caught in the bottling process, it might have come in contact with some of the machinery.

[fresh]

Accelerate over what? As the far as sole medium juice has the advantage of being usually quite rich in sugars and other nutrients, however it also has a low pH which inhibits growth for many microbes.

So the acidity itself is more inhibitory than anything.

You got another +1,

[Carmen de Cardenas]

I'd contact the manufacturer. In these days of instant social media, they'd probably send you a case of lemon juice to keep you from publicly complaining.

Well, if they send me a case of lemon juice I'll send the case back to them.

I was terrified when I found that thing . I was with friends and all of us drank the juice...

[Phi for All]

Well, if they send me a case of lemon juice I'll send the case back to them.

I was terrified when I found that thing . I was with friends and all of us drank the juice...

 

Oh, that's completely different! I didn't realize you drank some without knowing! That's worth a LOT more than a free case of product.

 

I'd go for a cash settlement if I was feeling litigious (which I rarely do). If they offer you a car, don't take it. It would probably be... no, I can't do it, I can't say it. Some puns are just too bad.

[michel123456]

It is not the only one.

I found this:

http://curezone.com/ig///i.asp?i=50240

 

Unexplained.

[arc]

It is not the only one.

I found this:

http://curezone.com/ig///i.asp?i=50240

Unexplained.

 

I had a nice 60+ km drive this morning so I spent a little time thinking on this, I saw michel's post during lunch and it matched up pretty well with what I came up with. I now withdraw my earlier conclusion. These modern food processing plants are really well designed to avoid anything but the most determined intentional tampering. Automated detection is used throughout so the odds are pretty low that accidental contamination by foreign objects could occur. I think it is due to improper packaging and maybe pasteurizing.

 

I'm going to assume this juice has pulp. I would also guess it was pasteurized and instructed the buyer to refrigerate after opening and maybe even shake before using. I had thought the juice may have been opened and partially used before being allowed to sit at room temperature, giving ample opportunity for the pulp to culture mold within the new atmosphere now inside the warming container of juice.

 

But michel's link had showed that the particular example had never been opened. The containers look similar so the contamination is probably related to defective packaging that allowed air to enter or again improper pasteurizing. The pulp would float like a raft, the top of it molding in the air as the bottom was exposed to the acid. My guess is the black stuff was down and the white side was up.

 

Carmen's sample had been opened and partially consumed, this would have lowered the fluid level down to where the container has a continually larger cross sectional area, increasing the pulps available surface area and thereby explaining the apparent greater quantity of contaminated matter. The raft would easily float out of the way to allow the juice below to pour out when container was tilted.

Edited January 11, 2014 by arc

[Carmen de Cardenas]

It is not the only one.

I found this:

http://curezone.com/ig///i.asp?i=50240

 

Unexplained.

OH MY GOD.

[Peter BE cimp]

I don't know, but this might help... http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/C107/m107bpfruitdis.html

It could be some type of bacteria that eats plastic; you said the bottle looked chewed on. Or maybe someone was trying to smuggle foreign microbes, hidden inside of hundreds of lemon juice bottles, into our country as some sort of, biohazardes terrorist attack.