Meat 4 Days Past Use By Date

[Louella Kammann]

Thereis no uniform or universally accepted system used for food dating in the United States. Depending on which food you are buying, the date on the package could be a recommendation on when it should be sold by or when it should be eaten by. Since confusion surrounding a date could mean throwing out perfectly good food, here are some tips about food package dates and storage for some common foods on your shopping list.

Open dating (use of a calendar date) is found primarily on the package of perishable foods such as meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products. "Closed" or "coded" dating might appear on shelf-stable products such as cans and boxes of food.

Except for "use-by" dates, product dates don't always refer to home storage and use after purchase. "Use-by" dates usually refer to best quality and are not safety dates. But even if the date expires during home storage, a product should be safe, wholesome and of good quality if handled properly and kept at 40 F or below. See the accompanying refrigerator charts for storage times of dated products. If product has a "use-by" date, follow that date. If product has a "sell-by" date or no date, cook or freeze the product by the times on the chart below.

Other examples of potential mishandling are products that have been: defrosted at room temperature; cross contaminated; or handled by people who don't practice sanitation. Make sure to follow the handling and preparation instructions on the label to ensure top quality and safety.

Always store your meat, poultry and fish in the refrigerator at 40 F or below. The chart below shows the approximate number of days or months to store food in the refrigerator or freezer after purchase of the food. For longer storage, keep in the freezer at 0 F or below and then cook within a day or two after defrosting.

Proper freezing can keep food safe indefinitely, but the quality (e.g., taste and texture) of foods may decline if stored longer than the times recommended in the table below. Even though it takes more time, always defrost meat, poultry and fish in your refrigerator instead of on your kitchen counter. If any of these foods develops freezer burn or an odd color or smell, do not use it.

Some milk is treated by an ultrahigh temperature (UHT) process, so they stay fresher longer. These shelf stable milks can be kept in your pantry for up to 90 days until they are opened After opening, spoilage time for UHT milk is similar to that of conventionally pasteurized milk and it should be refrigerated just like pasteurized milk.

Did you know the best place to store bread for maximum freshness is in your freezer? You can keep bread in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks, but the refrigerator may cause bread to lose moisture quickly and become stale.

The information and suggestions in this article and charts are intended as guidelines. Harvesting techniques, manufacturing processes, transportation and distribution conditions, the nature of the food, and storage temperature and conditions may impact storage life.

It can be really confusing to look at an indicator date on a package and see a variety of different terms. If there is a misunderstanding of what the date means, the safety of the food product and those consuming it could be compromised. Michigan State University Extension recommends keeping your refrigerator at the proper temperature, less than 40 degrees Fahrenheit. It is important that continuous refrigerated or frozen storage be used with meat products that are not shelf stable.

Another question that is common relates to processed meat products. 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. That means if a package of hot dogs is opened up and a few are prepared and eaten, within seven days the rest of the hot dogs need to be eaten or the remaining ones can be frozen. If you go to the deli and received sliced lunchmeat, eat that within seven days.

Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, religion, age, height, weight, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, family status or veteran status. Issued in furtherance of MSU Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Quentin Tyler, Director, MSU Extension, East Lansing, MI 48824. This information is for educational purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names does not imply endorsement by MSU Extension or bias against those not mentioned.

I bought one of those vac-sealed triple packages of ground beef from Costco about a week ago, and I didn't look at the "use by" date. It turns out the date was 3/11 :( So now I have 2.66 pounds of ground beef in my fridge, waiting for me to decide what to do with it.

I keep my costco beef in the rear of a low, wide bottom drawer, which for some reason stays very cold, and I'm sure I've used it past the date from time to time. The unopened packages have almost always been fresh beyond the date, in my experience. On the other hand, a package that has already been open and then stored in, say, a ziploc bag, is much less likely to stay fresh as long.

That's pretty iffy. What does it look like? What does it smell like? I think it would be pushing it.

Putting that aside, I have made taco/burrito meat and frozen it before. I usually do it with onion, peppers, and beans, and sometimes I add tomatoes or carrots or celery or turnips, depending on what I have on hand, because I am all about squeezing as many veg as possible into every dish. I do season it before freezing - I usually make a large batch, have some for dinner, then freeze the rest. It freezes and reheats really well. I suggest chopping the veg on the smaller size rather than in large chunks, for texture concerns, although I've always done small so I don't know if large is actually a problem.

You can also just brown the meat and freeze it plain and unseasoned. The advantage there is that you can use it in other things - shepherd's pie, etc. - if you're sick of tacos.

That said, I'd go the plain route if you decide to use it - no sense wasting good veg and/or broth if you decide it isn't worth eating.

*sigh* I hate when this happens. I never used to have to check dates with Costco, but with this new one, I do seem to have to. I don't know if it's the economy or the quality of employee around here (I have to be constantly vigilant at the BJ's across the street too), but it's so frustrating.

it is pretty obvious when beef has gone off. it will be discolored, smelly and slimy. if it has any of those three things then I would feed it to the chooks or dogs. if it has none of those then I would cook it really well.

An unopened, properly stored product's best before date tells a consumer how long that food will keep its flavour and nutritional value. It doesn't have anything to do with a food's safety, says Topp.

If someone fries or poaches a fresh egg, she says, it will stay together in "a nice, little package." If they use an egg beyond its best before date, it will spread out more and the yolk may be more likely to break.

The manufacturer's nutritional claims may no longer apply after a best before date or if the product isn't properly stored, says Cathy Paroschy Harris, a dietitian and spokeswoman for Dietitians of Canada. Orange juice may not provide as much Vitamin C and milk less riboflavin past the best before date.

Other items may have compromised taste, but still be safe to eat. Ketchups and salsas may be more acidic, dry pasta may break when cooked, and cookies at the back of the pantry may just taste bad. It's generally the taste, not safety that suffers.

The organization has a chart for how long different foods can be kept in a refrigerator or freezer. Watson recommends people purchase food with a short fridge life, like opened milk or cottage cheese, in quantities they're likely to consume quickly.

Hungry snackers should throw away mouldy cheese, breads, yogurts and other foods. Topp says people used to feel comfortable scraping mould off the top of food and continuing to eat it. Nowadays, that's not considered acceptable, as mould is believed to contaminate food beyond what's visible to the human eye, she says.

Kim Chin is a registered dietitian and foodie at heart. She works in corporate wellness and provides nutrition counseling in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her passion is connecting with people through food and helping them obtain a balanced life.

Jon is a writer from California and now floats somewhere on an island in the Mediterranean. He thinks most issues can be solved by petting a good dog, and he spends plenty of time doing so. Time not spent at his desk is probably spent making art or entertaining humans or other animals.

Two examples of bacteria that may affect ground beef are spoilage bacteria and pathogenic bacteria. Spoilage bacteria are not generally harmful, but will cause food to lose quality. This may cause unpleasant odors or taste. Pathogenic bacteria are more dangerous. They may contaminate food and cause a foodborne illness, which can result in food poisoning.

Consuming spoiled or undercooked beef can make people feel sick, so individuals should try to store, handle, and prepare beef safely to prevent them from getting ill. There are signs people can be aware of that may warn them that ground beef is now bad.

One quick way to determine if ground beef has spoiled or is good to eat is by looking at the color of the meat. Good quality, unspoiled ground beef bought from the supermarket should be bright red on the outside.

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