How to tell if brussel sprouts are bad?

Step 1

Bad brussel sprouts can have a bad smell, similar to old cabbage. They might be a lighter green/yellow color, have brown edges, are moldy, or even slimy.

Step 2

If the stem of the brussel sprout is black or brown, or there are black spots on the leaves, it is going bad. Sometime you can remove a bad outer leaf, similar to cabbage, and still eat the inside, if there are no signs of decay.

Step 3

Raw sprouts are bad if there is mold present, all their leaves are loose, the leaves are turning yellow/brown, or if sprout is soft and squishy.

Step 4

Sometimes when you are removing the outer loose leaves, or even when you cut the sprout in half, you will see evidence of where a worm ate its way through the sprout. If there are only a few sprouts that show this I will just cut those pieces off (or toss the entire sprout) and cook the rest. If the entire bag/bunch of sprouts has evidence of being eaten by worms I will often return the produce and not eat it.