Foods You Should Never Buy Online

There are plenty of foods you can buy online from your local grocery store or a distribution warehouse without a worry. Such a bounty includes cans of beans, bags of rice, or basically anything heavy that you don't want to lug home. Then again, there are also foods you probably shouldn't order online. Why be so wary? It's either because of the prices involved, the fact that someone else is picking and packing them, or potential food safety issues with grocery store delivery. Then there are the prepared items and fast-food meals where you'd be better off getting them as takeout rather than ordering for delivery. There are even foods you probably shouldn't be ordering at all, at least not if you want the same experience that you'd get eating at an actual restaurant.

While some of the foods on this list are obvious, a few of them might surprise you. So from buying meat online, to melons, to maki sushi, here are some foods you really shouldn't buy via the internet and why.

Fast perishing fruits that tend to go moldy quickly and bruise easily are some of the worst foods to buy online. If you bravely order these produce standbys online, chances are all too good that you'll never see if any of them are truly good until your paid-for groceries arrive at your door. Then, your horrified eyes might spot a blackberry or raspberry covered in a white film hidden amongst the rest or a brown, rotting grape infecting its neighbor. You'll also never see if your peach, nectarine, or plum is wrinkled, dry, soft, or rock hard. So much for that fruit tart you had on the menu.

As with avocados, you won't know how ripe anything will be upon arrival. Odds are unfortunately good that your tomato might not taste like juicy sunshine, since you didn't pick the best one yourself in the produce section or at a farmer's market. That's assuming you really care about picking the best one, but, really, would Ina Garten or Martha Stewart let someone else pick their San Marzanos for them? Neither should you. Not that you should do absolutely everything Martha has done with her life, but surely it's safe to emulate her regard for the very best tomatoes. When it comes to these fruits — yes, tomato is a fruit, too — you're best off selecting them in person.

Some people might think that buying on sale all the time is horrendously cheap, but smart shoppers simply call it practical. Finding the best deals on food instead of overspending by buying everything at full price is key if you're trying to save money. If you can save a few bucks because bananas, eggs, potatoes, and ground beef are all on sale at your local store that doesn't deliver, then surely you've got a pretty good reason to leave your house. The fact that, according to Better Marketing, you're more likely to spend extra money in a store through impulse buying might seem like a good reason to stick to digital marketplaces. Yet, it all depends on what you're grabbing, your own self-control, and whether or not you were actually going to buy it at some point anyway. 

If you were going to pick up that extra can of on-sale tomatoes, that box of frozen burritos, or, let's be honest, that tub of Häagen-Dazs ice cream eventually, it makes them a good deal to get them on sale. You might as well save the money now. According to a First Insight report on consumer spending, you're definitely less likely to buy extra items if you're shopping online, so you're going to miss those sale items. Sure, there are plenty of online sales, but you just don't notice them the same way you would in aisles in a physical store. 

Similar to fish, you don't want fresh or frozen meat sitting outside of a fridge or freezer for too long. No one, after all, wants to find out the hard way that some nasty bacteria has taken root in your favorite cut of beef. But you're also going to want to see the meat for yourself. You've arguably got to check out that marbling on your rib-eye and make sure your chicken is pink rather than grey before you spend your hard-earned money. 

And while selection can be better online than in-store, you're going to pay more for that convenience. That means you would be even more upset if what shows up at your door isn't all that great. This is also why a good butcher is worth their weight in gold. Seeing them cut your meat to order instills a lot more confidence in the quality of the product than clicking a button for delivery and crossing your fingers. 

Besides, what happens when a pound of chicken livers show up by mistake at your house instead of the chicken breasts you were planning to grill? Are you going to send them back? Nope. Sure, The Guardian reports that they're full of protein, vitamin B12, and folate, but the iron heavy flavor and creamy texture aren't exactly ideal for the grilled chicken Caesar salad or sesame chicken recipe you'd planned.

If you want an amazing watermelon – and I'm not talking a so-so melon that's about one step above sugar water – you're going to need to do some knocking. One of the tricks to picking the best melon is to gently knock on it in order to hear how hollow it is, the BBC reports. The more hollow, the better. The same goes for weight: the heavier, the better. Then there's the shape of the watermelon itself, reports Lumpy Batter. Turns out that round watermelons are generally sweeter than oblong ones. So how can you compare your watermelon with the others and make sure you're getting the best one without actually being in a store and choosing it yourself? 

By ordering watermelon online, you might as well be buying a watermelon lottery ticket, with similarly poor chances at winning the actual lottery jackpot. One person is going to choose your watermelon for you, but they're also going to choose everyone else's. Only one lucky customer can get the best watermelon in the store or warehouse according to that employee's selection methods (and come on, they're definitely not knocking). Odds are that person is most likely not going to be you.

There are some sandwiches that you just can't or shouldn't make at home. But for even the most elaborate combinations, you can usually buy all the ingredients you need and assemble the sandwich yourself for less, which usually also results in a fresher, tastier meal than what you'd buy at your local grocery store or deli – especially if you order it online and it's been sitting around waiting to be delivered. 

Those store-bought sandwiches are a convenience food when you've got 10 minutes to grab something between meetings at the office. But, if your office happens to be within your own home, your kitchen will always be closer than the grocery store. Then why not just order in a tasty hot salami or cold cut sandwich from your favorite restaurant or deli? Sure, but you probably won't be doing that every day, either because of the expense or the eventual monotony. 

The solution is to recreate that experience at home and vary it to your tastes by instead buying or ordering the ingredients themselves, like deli meats, cheeses, and rolls, so you'll be good for a week. Even if you're dreaming of bánh mì, you can always order a fancy pâté, pickled vegetables, and fluffy French-style baguettes to make your own. And come on, are you actually buying avocado toast? Try making it for yourself, at least once. This way, you choose the quality and price of your ingredients and never get bored.

As with highly perishable fruit like blackberries and raspberries, you're going to want to inspect your eggs before buying them, not for mold, but for crack. Done online, it's all but impossible to inspect them for this egg-ruining flaw. It's also hard to know how long they've been unrefrigerated or stored at unsafe temperatures, which can lead to serious foodborne illnesses. The same goes for egg salad, egg sandwiches, quiches, and egg-based desserts like mousse or cheesecake, though those at least have some preservatives in them –- salt and sugar, as Scientific American reports, if not artificial preservatives –- to keep them safe for longer. 

Because eggs in the U.S. are sterilized to remove external bacteria before they are sold, they lose a protective layer on their shells. This is why they should be refrigerated in the first place, at least in the United States. In Europe, eggs are often left out of the fridge because the chickens are vaccinated against salmonella and their eggs aren't treated (via Business Insider).