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Current version
3/8/2026, 10:06:08 PM
Imported from wiki
by tmascroft · 3/8/2026, 9:31:19 PM
Decayed Food

## Decayed Food

:::infobox
| Property | Value |
|----------|-------|
| Stacks | 25 |
| Prefab Hash | 1531087544 |
| Prefab Name | DecayedFood |

![Decayed Food](ItemDecayedFood.png)
:::


## Description

When your [Food](/wiki/food) decays, it turns into this. Decayed Food can be processed into [Biomass](/wiki/biomass) using a [Recycler](/wiki/recycler) and a [Centrifuge](/wiki/centrifuge).  While it is no longer useful as food, it is useful as the early stage of a [biofuel pipeline](/wiki/biofuel-pipeline) for electricity generation. Suffice to say, eating this is a bad idea.

Decayed Food is also produced when [Food](/wiki/food) passes through a [SDB Silo](/wiki/kit-sdb-silo). It is a way to produce it without waiting, for example, to use it in an [Advanced Composter](/wiki/kit-advanced-composter).

## Factors Towards Decaying

The exact speed of decay varies individually by:

- TEMPERATURE - Refrigeration will slow decay, but many foods will be damaged by exposure to extreme low pressure, as well as extreme heat. The optimum temperature is 0 kelvin (-272ºC).

- FOOD TYPE - Each [food](/wiki/food) type has its own decay properties. [Tomato Soup](/wiki/tomato-soup) lasts a lot longer than a [Tomato](/wiki/tomato), for instance.

- PRESSURE - Food decays faster when the pressure drops below 1 atmosphere (101kPa). Decay happens exponentially more quickly as the atmosphere approaches a perfect vacuum. There is no effect from higher pressures.

- ATMOSPHERE - Different gases can slow and accelerate the decay process. The process will take into account the respective gas ratios in mixed atmospheres while calculating the decay modifier. The following rates apply across all foods:
- [Oxygen](/wiki/oxygen) x 1.3
- [Nitrogen](/wiki/nitrogen) x 0.6
- [Carbon Dioxide](/wiki/carbon-dioxide) x 0.8
- [Volatiles](/wiki/volatiles) x 1
- [Pollutant](/wiki/pollutant) x 3
- [Nitrous Oxide](/wiki/nitrous-oxide) x 1.5
- [Water](/wiki/water) x 2
- Vacuum - see PRESSURE (above).

Also seen on [Ingame Guides - Food Decay](/wiki/ingame-guides-food-decay)