Has this ever happened to you? You open a brand new package of Lightlife sliced tempeh (also called ‘tempe’ by some), such as the bacon flavored tempeh, and it is covered in what appears to be black mold or some sort of black spoilage? So you freak out, check the ‘best by’ date (which is likely still weeks out), and try to figure out just what could have gone so horribly wrong? Well, you’re not alone, because that happened to us very recently.

Ewww! What is this stuff??

In fact, we opened the package on September 13th (2024), and when we checked the package it was dated October 24, 2024.

Fun fact: The spelling ‘tempe’ is in fact a legitimate spelling of ‘tempeh’, at least according to Wikipedia, which says that “Tempeh or tempe is a traditional Indonesian food made from fermented soybeans. It is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form. A fungus, Rhizopus oligosporus or Rhizopus oryzae, is used in the fermentation process and is also known as tempeh starter.”

Many people associate tempeh as a Japanese dish, but it’s actually originally from Indonesia. As Wikipedia goes on to say, “Tempeh originated in Indonesia, almost certainly in central or east Java with an estimated discovery date of some time between a few centuries and more than a thousand years ago. The invention of tempeh seems to have arisen through the serendipitous introduction to stored soybeans of the fungus, which is crucial in tempeh’s fermentation. This fungus grows on teakwood and sea hibiscus leaves, which native Javanese people often used (and still do) as food wrappings. In fact, in traditional tempeh making, an usar (a mycelium-filled leaf) is used, instead of store-bought ragi.”

Now, the Rhizopus fungus will give a white coloring to tempeh, and so seeing some white on your tempeh is to be expected. But black?

So, wanting to get to the bottom of this, we went straight to the source: Lightlife. And here is what they have to say about that:

“The dark areas are from the production process – they are edible and perfectly normal. Tempeh is a fermented product that incubates for several hours. During incubation, the black and white areas develop as part of heating and cooling. The dark areas are purely cosmetic and will not affect the flavor, texture or shelf life of the product. Our tempeh is pasteurized after it has been packaged and therefore is a cooked product. If you notice any spots that appear a color other than black or white, please do not eat the product.”

Now that you know that your tempeh is safe, here is what we did with it – we airfried it and it came out like nice, crispy bacon! So yummy on a sandwich!

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