What is old meat? (2024)

FAQs

Can you eat meat 2 weeks after the expiration date? ›

For sell-by dates that go past at home, you can continue to store the food for a short amount of time depending on what it is. Some common products are: ground meat and poultry (1 to 2 days past the date), beef (3 to 5 days past the date), eggs (3 to 5 weeks past the date).

This darkening is due to oxidation, the chemical changes in myoglobin due to the oxygen content. This is a normal change during refrigerator storage. Beef that has turned brown during extended storage may be spoiled, have an off-odor, and be tacky to the touch and should not be used.

You can get sick from eating bad meat, even after cooking it. Certain bacteria produce toxins that can't be removed through heat.

Steaks sitting in the refrigerator for a few days could turn brown due to the natural oxidation process. However, if the steak is also past its expiration date, smells bad, and is slimy to the touch, it isn't safe to eat.

Food that is stored in a freezer at zero degrees will be safe to eat indefinitely. However, if meat is frozen too long it may lose quality and taste. If you are unsure if meat is still fresh, you can determine this once it has been thawed.

Though the bacteria that cause meat to spoil aren't generally harmful, other disease-causing microorganisms may proliferate when it goes bad. To reduce your risk of illness, you should always cook meat thoroughly and avoid eating spoiled or undercooked ground beef.

If only the interior is gray, you can bet that oxygen hasn't touched it to turn it red. This means ground beef with a gray interior is safe to eat. On the other hand, meat that looks gray or brown all over (on the inside as well as the top layer) has likely begun to spoil and is not safe to eat.

For raw ground meats, poultry, seafood and variety meats (liver, tongue, chitterlings, etc.), refrigerate them only 1 to 2 days before either cooking or freezing. Beef, veal, lamb and pork roasts, steaks and chops may be kept 3 to 5 days.

The first kind, spoilage bacteria, can cause the meat to lose quality and develop a bad odor and taste, but they generally aren't harmful to eat. Pathogenic bacteria, on the other hand, can't be seen or smelled, but they are dangerous and can lead to food poisoning.

These pathogenic bacteria are able to invade our bodies or produce toxins to cause illness. They cannot be seen or smelled on the meat, but can generally be killed by normal cooking conditions (i.e. cooking to a core temperature of at least 75°C instantaneously or other effective time/ temperature combinations).

Is it okay to eat meat that smells a little? ›

If you notice a strong, unpleasant smell coming from your meat it is always best to play it safe and throw it away. It is simply not worth the risk when you take into consideration that consuming spoiled meat can lead to food poisoning and a variety of health issues.

It should smell like iron if it's fresh—and sometimes its natural smell is so faint, you don't even notice it—but the putrid smell of rotting meat is impossible to miss. Don't ignore off-putting smells, and throw out any meat that's stinking up your refrigerator.

However, steak that's been in the refrigerator for several days may also turn grey, indicating that it may have been exposed to more oxygen in the refrigerator. Still, this doesn't necessarily mean that it's not safe to eat, especially if it doesn't have an off-putting smell or slimy texture.

If your meat has passed the expiration date, is sticky or slimy, or was not stored correctly, it smells like eggs; the best choice is to dispose of it. Certain bacteria interact with blood and proteins, releasing sulfur-based, egg-like scent. Ground beef that is not properly cooked can also emit an ammonia smell.

Other tell-tale signs of spoilage include meat that looks slimy, shiny, crusty, and/or off color. Raw beef should ideally be a beautiful red or even purplish hue and look moist but not wet.

Once a processed meat product (ham, hot dog, lunchmeat, etc.) package is opened, the product should be good for up to seven days unless another type of date is on the package and has passed. After the seven days, the product should not be consumed.

Sell-By Date: Refers to the last day a retailer can display a product for sale; typically a food is safe to eat for 10 days after the Sell-by Date if refrigerated properly. Use-By Date: Refers to the last day a product will maintain its optimum freshness, flavor, and texture.

"Those expiration dates are on some egg cartons to make sure that retailers don't keep eggs on shelves past a certain date," Maloberti says. "However, eggs can be safely eaten two to three weeks past that date. Depending on where [you live], the expiration date may be labeled as Sell By, Use By, Exp. By or Best By."