Toxic Food Alert: DO NOT Eat Your Pumpkins After Halloween

It's always sad when the Halloween decorations come down, but I LOVE all my fall accent pieces that I keep out until Thanksgiving. If that sounds familiar and you're someone who doesn't immediately decorate for Christmas after Halloween, then you're likely still busy come November 1st. The scary stuff goes back in the bins, the tombstones get packed up, and the Jack-o-lanterns need to be disposed of sooner rather than later or else they'll go bad.

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What are you supposed to do with the pumpkins you carved? Here's what you're never supposed to do with them.

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Experts Warn Against Eating Old Carved Pumpkins After Halloween

You can use a pumpkin as a cooking ingredient or as a decoration, but not both. That means that NO, you can't eat a pumpkin you turned into a Jack-o-lantern at the beginning of the month. Think of all the bacteria that's had more than two weeks to grow inside that thing.

You'd be surprised that people are still under the impression that they can.

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In case you weren't aware, pumpkins are a low-acid vegetable, so that means once they're cut and sit at room temperature, pathogens will grow rapidly on the skin. You don't want to be ingesting anything that's been festering on the pumpkin's surface since the time it was originally carved.

Let's get real for a second. It's not exactly like pumpkin carving is the most sanitary activity. Not everyone is washing their hands before carving, washing the pumpkin, carving them on clean surfaces, using clean tools, etc.

You can always save the seeds for roasting, Roasted pumpkin seeds are delicious!