Are these ribs still good?

I wouldn't. I left some I. The fridge for a Week and were smelling like death. Too risky. Always smell first too. 

Since they were vacuum packed and since they smelled ok, I think they are safe.  But after cooking if they taste funny you may reconsider. I would cook a couple of the ribs without sauce or rub, so you can taste test them before serving, maybe one from each rack. Best of luck.

Smell test. If you are in doubt after you smell them, pitch them. 

You said they smell fine so I think you are good to go. 

I've been hospitalized for salmonella so you can probably guess what my response is....

I say go for it if they don't smell bad.

it probably took a few days of that two weeks for the ribs to completely thaw. Pork tends to last a while in the fridge--especially when sealed. 

I teach food safety classes and have a degree in biology, so the standard answer I would give is to throw them out. A piece of meat passing the smell test is like the five second rule. It's not a fool-proof method for testing if the meat is still good. And just because the meat is in cryovac doesn't mean it's free of bacterial contamination, it could have been contaminated at the processing plant. The reason cook temp for pork is a minimum of 145 is because that is the temp at which most bacteria that infect pork will be completely dead, but as jtcBoynton said above, there is a difference between a piece of meat being contaminated and a piece of meat spoiling. The date is there for a reason: it's a safety measure to prevent people from eating food that has started to spoil. Food that has spoiled is actively being decomposed by bacteria or fungi that were already living in the animal. These bacteria/fungi had a symbiotic relationship with the animal, but since the animal is no longer contributing nutrients to the colony, the bacteria/fungi have to resort to scavenging to get nutrients. Freezing the meat sort of hibernates the bacteria, it doesn't kill them, which is why you can freeze meat and it be safe, but refrigeration isn't cold enough to prevent decomposition. Lastly, cooking spoiled meat to 145 degrees will not prevent one from getting sick! The spores produced by the bacteria that lived in the animal can survive extremely high heat, making it extremely unsafe to consume. While the date given is always a couple days before spoiling typically occurs, the manner in which you explained they were held would definitely have me throwing them out. Better safe than sorry.

Got

Hope you all make it through!

Next time I would cook them and pick the kid you like the least and feed him first.  If he is good in a few hours I say dig in.

bboulier said:

I would toss them.  Not worth the risk.

Uhhh. Too late

As noted above the best before dates are there for a reason, IMO, that reason has nothing to do with food safety. It has everything to do with liability of the seller/packer and ensuring the food is at its peak. It is a super safe date, in most cases. Many foods have a best before date, not an expiry date - two very different things. I have relied on the feel and smell test for packaged meat for years and have tossed some out as it did not seem right. sstripes96 said:

Well, I cooked them up. I was actually surprised how well they turned out. 350 for 2 hours, toss on some sauce, foil, and wait for everyone to get home. I guess we will know tomorrow. Thanks for all the input.

Let us know! 

Tettletime said:

I teach food safety classes and have a degree in biology, so the standard answer I would give is to throw them out. A piece of meat passing the smell test is like the five second rule. It's not a fool-proof method for testing if the meat is still good. And just because the meat is in cryovac doesn't mean it's free of bacterial contamination, it could have been contaminated at the processing plant. The reason cook temp for pork is a minimum of 145 is because that is the temp at which most bacteria that infect pork will be completely dead, but as jtcBoynton said above, there is a difference between a piece of meat being contaminated and a piece of meat spoiling. The date is there for a reason: it's a safety measure to prevent people from eating food that has started to spoil. Food that has spoiled is actively being decomposed by bacteria or fungi that were already living in the animal. These bacteria/fungi had a symbiotic relationship with the animal, but since the animal is no longer contributing nutrients to the colony, the bacteria/fungi have to resort to scavenging to get nutrients. Freezing the meat sort of hibernates the bacteria, it doesn't kill them, which is why you can freeze meat and it be safe, but refrigeration isn't cold enough to prevent decomposition. Lastly, cooking spoiled meat to 145 degrees will not prevent one from getting sick! The spores produced by the bacteria that lived in the animal can survive extremely high heat, making it extremely unsafe to consume. While the date given is always a couple days before spoiling typically occurs, the manner in which you explained they were held would definitely have me throwing them out. Better safe than sorry.

I always heard let your nose tell you.  Thanks for the detailed information.  I also thought freezing killed stuff and so did cooking to at least 145.  I'm now somewhat depressed now that I'm out of the Matrix as your post was the "blue pill".  I'm going to check the temp on my freezer and fridge right now and then go to bed.  Seriously, thanks for posting.  

Did they have a sell by date?  If you got them from a local butcher that gets them from the farm, maybe your timeline isn't that long after all?

Awesome!! I would have tossed them so glad you didn't get sick.