How Safe is it to Consume 2 Day Past Experation Date Beef?

[Fire Fly]

If I have some ground beef that is two days past the "Sell By" date, is it still safe to cook it? I really don't want to have to throw away $4.50 worth of good beef.

[Vendetta]

It probably won't kill you.

It might just taste odd, depending on how it's been stored.

Best bet, curry it.

[Fire Fly]

Well, I left it sitting on the bottom of my fridge. When I bought it, the meat was still red. Now, there's portions of mixed red/grey colors.

[Pick]

It's fine. Don't mind the graying; meat does that fairly quickly and it's still good for eating. Defintely if it's been in your fridge.

[General Zod]

Make sure it's well cooked and you should be fine. Now if it were a week old, you might not want to bother.

[Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi]

Is there any rule of thumb about the time between the "sell by" date and when the meat expires? I'll stop eating cheese a few days after that date, and by then it tastes funny, but I feel it's because my mind is saying "It's days past the "sell by" date, it can't be good".

[wautd]

Is there any rule of thumb about the time between the "sell by" date and when the meat expires? I'll stop eating cheese a few days after that date, and by then it tastes funny, but I feel it's because my mind is saying "It's days past the "sell by" date, it can't be good".

It's always a "give or take a few days". The time you transport the meat from store to your fridge is probably more stressfull to your meat than storing it 2 days longer at lower temperature

[Faram]

If it smells okay before and after cooking, then it is okay to eat.

The best before date is just a prediction for the store.

And I just love canned food with an best before date, I have eaten canned food that was 6years expired with no problem.

[Zed Snardbody]

With meat, its always the smell. If it smells ok, then its fine.

[Falkenhayn]

I work Grocery in the local supermarket. The "expiration" date is the date after which, at a normal rate of consumption, the whole product could not be consumed before at least some of it goes bad.

[Tranan]

If it smells okay before and after cooking, then it is okay to eat.

The best before date is just a prediction for the store.

And I just love canned food with an best before date, I have eaten canned food that was 6years expired with no problem.

Dont forget the swed milltarys choclate that is 20years old and still hard as concrete butt good.

[Trytostaydead]

PHONE POISON CONTROL NOW!!
















































j/p

[Korvan]

Back when I was a starving student, McDonalds had a special on hamburgers, something like 3 for $2. I bought three, but was only able to eat two of them. I put the third one into my pack.

A week later, I was very hungry, flat broke and about an hour's walk back to my fridge. Digging through my pack I can across the last burger. I'm not proud about what I did, but I did what I had to, to survive.

McDonalds must use some sort of preservative from hell as I suffered no ill effects, other than the usual ones you get from eating there. I did discard the letuce and pickle as they had begun to liquify.

[Master of Ossus]

Is there any rule of thumb about the time between the "sell by" date and when the meat expires? I'll stop eating cheese a few days after that date, and by then it tastes funny, but I feel it's because my mind is saying "It's days past the "sell by" date, it can't be good".

God damn it. Doesn't anybody know what the fucking dates mean?

Assuming that a product has not been opened, and is otherwise being stored correctly, no product can be unfit for consumption (meaning that its quality has not degraded for a minimum of 3-4 days after the "Sell By" date. A "Use By" date indicates the last day at which a product can be safely used at its highest level of quality. Even raw meat and poultry can be stored and eaten safely at its highest level of quality for a day or two after the "Sell By" date, provided that it is properly handled and refrigerated. The "Sell By" date is not equivalent to a "Use By" date. It is simply the last day in which it is legal for a store to sell a product as being fresh.

[wautd]

With meat, its always the smell. If it smells ok, then its fine.

You mean like Salmonella or Staphylococcus aureus?

That's the thing with food poisoning germs, they are dangerous because you can't see or smell it when the food is spoiled.

[Faram]

With meat, its always the smell. If it smells ok, then its fine.

You mean like Salmonella or Staphylococcus aureus?

That's the thing with food poisoning germs, they are dangerous because you can't see or smell it when the food is spoiled.

Proper storage and cooking kill those germs.

[drachefly]

If I have some ground beef that is two days past the "Sell By" date, is it still safe to cook it? I really don't want to have to throw away $4.50 worth of good beef.

Depends. Worried about CJD?

[Gil Hamilton]

If you cook it properly and make sure it doesn't smell weird, it's probably OK. However, I wouldn't recommend eating it rare.

Personally, I may not want to eat it because I like my meat, particularly beef, on the rare side (that means pink, not bloody). However, there is no point in wasting food that can be eaten. Currying it or stewing it are good options.

[The Aliens]

If you cook it properly and make sure it doesn't smell weird, it's probably OK. However, I wouldn't recommend eating it rare.

Personally, I may not want to eat it because I like my meat, particularly beef, on the rare side (that means pink, not bloody). However, there is no point in wasting food that can be eaten. Currying it or stewing it are good options.

It's ground beef- eating it raw could fuck you up regardless of sell-by date.

[Faram]

It's ground beef- eating it raw could fuck you up regardless of sell-by date.

Agreed, only a fool eats beef raw, and it takes a even greater fool to eat ground beef uncooked.

[FSTargetDrone]

Well, you can forget all about the red color as an indicator (in some cases):

Red Meat May No Longer Be Fresh With New Treatment

WMAQ-TV

CHICAGO - There's something new in the meat sections of grocery stores nationwide-- sparking a debate about the color of fresh meat. You may see red, but is it something less? When it comes to buying meat, consumers often shop with their eyes: the color of meat is directly equated to its freshness in the minds of many.

But a different way of treating meat could change that, as it changes the way some meat looks.

In the red of a steak, the pink of ground pork and the color of fresh tuna, there is something new in the air, literally. It's a way of packaging meat consumers haven't been told about, with an ingredient not usually associated with food: carbon monoxide.

"I think it's not only misleading but potentially very dangerous," said Donna Rosenbaum, who is on the board of Safe Tables Our Priority, a food safety organization.

But the meat industry disagrees.

"This is a technology that's been proven to be safe and effective," said Dr. Randy Huffman, with the American Meat Institute.

The color of fresh meat is universally known: bright red. After a few days, the telltale brown color signals to consumers that the meat is getting old.

But carbon monoxide may change that.

When exposed to case-ready meat, the kind packaged before it gets to the store, the gas reacts with the meat's pigment to create a new, more stable color.

Critics are concerned that the treated meat may stay red longer than it stays fresh.

Dr. Don Berdahl speaks for a Michigan food company, Kalsec, which says the Food and Drug Administration broke its own rules when it allowed the meat treatment.

"The consumer, who's always used color as a test for freshness or wholesomeness, can no longer use this test or indicator," Berdahl said. "There are statutes that forbid this. The FDA did not follow the processes that are needed to approve what is, in fact, a color additive."

Kalsec admitted it has competitive motives -- the food company could lose business to the carbon monoxide packaging.

But photos from an independent lab study show there are also safety reasons to fight the additive, NBC5's Lisa Parker reported.

When carbon monoxide is added to the atmosphere inside packages of ground beef, the meat at day one looks just like the meat at day 12.

A study found that all the carbon-monoxide samples remained bright red in color throughout the 12-day test, even in the meat stored at 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

While no one has suggested the carbon monoxide in and of itself is dangerous here -- the amounts are very small -- the concern is the meat will look safe and fresh, when in fact, it no longer is, Parker reported.

"You could potentially have this bright red meat picked up by consumers, thinking that it's fresh, when actually it contains bacteria that are going to be very injurious to their health," Rosenbaum said.

U.S. food safety agencies have long condemned any procedure that could mislead consumers.

In 2004, two agencies, the FDA and the Department of Agriculture, first expressed concern that the use of carbon monoxide with fresh meat may cause the meat to retain its fresh color longer than meat not so treated, thereby misleading the consumer and increasing the potential for masking spoilage.

The agencies later reversed those concerns after deciding carbon monoxide is not a food additive in this case.

"Government scientists at the FDA have reviewed this technology not once, but on four occasions, and each time have arrived at the same conclusion -- that the process is appropriate and safe," Huffman said.

The meat industry says the benefits of the packaging technology far outweigh any possible downside.

"This petition that has been filed against this technology is really about money, not food safety," Huffman said.

But money is also key for the meat industry, Parker reported. It's estimated at least $1 billion of meat sales are lost every year due to meat discoloration.

By prolonging the amount of time it stays red, sales can only go up, Parker reported.

The debate is just starting to sizzle.

"It's very unlikely, extremely unlikely that the product is going to be spoiled and still be red," Huffman said.

But Kalsec's scientist disagreed.

"The consumer has no idea this is going on, and there's no marking on the package to allow the consumer to understand their meat has been treated with carbon monoxide," Berdahl said.

There are no specific labels on the treatment, but there are use-by dates, and the meat industry thinks consumers already rely heavily on them. Those who don't will need to, in the chance meat stays red beyond its expiration.

The treatment affects only case-ready meat -- the pre-packaged stuff, not the meat handled and wrapped by a butcher in the store.

Parker reported that the FDA did no independent testing of the carbon monoxide additive -- they relied on the companies using the technology for information.

Mmm, that's good eatin'!

[Fire Fly]

Well, I made some hamburger helper out of it and it sure did taste fine to me. Still alive.

[LadyTevar]

Well, you can forget all about the red color as an indicator (in some cases):

Red Meat May No Longer Be Fresh With New Treatment

Shit, they've been treating beef with food color for years. I never trust them by coloration.