when meat goes bad

RRP · November 2008

I guess this question is more for the professionals in the food service business, but MAYBE it applies to all of us.

During part of my working career I was financially responsible for the daily feeding of 14,000 students and faculty. Long story, but shortened here...once we lost over a ton of various meats one weekend due to a power shortage. Even though spoiled it all had to be cooked at overtime wages before it could even be trashed! That was not a local landfill requirement, but a health code requirement for tainted meat! I've always wondered if I'm breaking the law merely pitching some out-of-date meat I find hidden in my freezer. Anybody know?

Big'un · November 2008

After reading your header,"when meat goes bad", I kind of expected to see a couple of ribeyes robbing a bank or something.Haha. I think those regulation are meant for businesses just like the police would never ensure the doneness of how you cook your steak or burger.

Semolina Pilchard · November 2008

That is interesting. Once the spoiled meat is cooked I am sure it would still be harmful to eat, but would it now be less harmful? What exactly is the benefit of cooking?

stike · November 2008

no.

wanna know why? because IT CAN NOT GO BAD IN YOUR FREEZER>

truthfully. it can go 'bad', if bad means "tastes like crap or is freezer burnt". but food cannot go 'bad' where bad=unsafe-to-eat in your freezer.

this isn't me saying it. it's the FDA, which sates that food kept properly frozen is good "indefinitely". they will recommend that beef is good for say six months. that means that under typical conditions, it will become freezer burnt or unpalatable (picking up off flavors). that does NOT mean it goes bad bacterially, which is the ONLY concern.

sorry to be so pedantic about this, but this question comes up all the time.

meat kept properly frozen cannot, after a hundred years, be considered dangerous to eat. it might taste like you are eating a wet sunday newspaper, but you will not become sick.

if someone ever says "when in doubt, throw it out", it is an admission that they are in doubt. if they are in doubt, they dunno what they are talking about.

stike · November 2008

killing the bacteria, of course.
they don't want dogs and cats maybe getting sick... who knows.

or (god forbid), homeless folks.

honestly, i think in food service, it must have to do with the fact that there is so much food involved maybe they expect somone will say "it's a shame to throw this out" and take it home and cook it.

what's odd though is that cooking it doesn't render it safe. sure, cooking it kills the bacteria which multiply and make you sick. but it doesn't do anything to neutralize the toxin of other bacteria, which are far worse, frankly.

you can't make an already-too-infected piece of meat safe by cooking it.

Scotty's Inferno · November 2008

That's simple RRP. Throwing away meat is ALWAYS a crime! Scott

Celtic Wolf · November 2008

Well it could have to do with the fact raw spoiled meat of that magnitude would attract lots rats and opossums. They both carry diseases that are deadly to humans

RRP · November 2008

even at a land fill serving 600,000 households and 1,000 restaurants?

Celtic Wolf · November 2008

Especially at landfills.

The point here is all that meat gets dumped into a dumpster outside the restaurant. It could be a few days before it's picked up and carried away.

By then that restaurant would be rat infested..

jeffinsgf · November 2008

Uh, the rats don't care whether it is cooked or raw. They'll eat it either way.

Celtic Wolf · November 2008

Nobody ever said our Government was smart!!

However, Rats and other rodents are carrion eaters and they prefer raw rotted meat.

jeffinsgf · November 2008

I swore to myself and the forum I wouldn't do this again, but I can't help myself.

I don't think there is a rat on the face of this earth that would care whether a piece of meat was cooked or not. Rats are omnivore opportunists. They will take what is available and will kill if the chance presents itself. I can name at least a half dozen rodent species that are not only not carrion eaters, but are rather picky herbivores.

Slotmercenary · November 2008

maybe it has something to do with the fact they make the pig growers cook the slop they pick up from the casinos to a temp of 200 degrees before it can be removed from the property.

emilluca · November 2008

In the meat business there is what is called the "Bone Man" he picks up fat, bones, spoiled meat and dead animals from vets and humane society places to take to a rendering company to make soap, oils and fertilizer. Certainly don't cook road kill or dead dogs and go to a land fill with them so why resturant or food service meats. It goes into your dove soap.

The Naked Whiz · November 2008

Of course, once you toss the meat and it thaws in your trash can, it does go bad. Not to be pedantic, of course. :laugh:

stike · November 2008

my point was that if it is properly frozen, there is no reason to throw it in your trash, as it isn't in need of tossing

stike · November 2008

there are a lot of folks that would wash off a steak and pass it off as safe, and it is simply a way of ruining it so that it doesn't enter the human food supply again.

very tempting (for some i'm sure) to pick up a load of cardboard boxes containing meat that was otherwise 'ok' looking but which fell under the unsafe category , taken it elsewhere, and resell it.

Bordello · November 2008

When I worked in the meat plant we had dye, blue ink that we had to pour over bad meat before the landfill thing.

I often

have to toss things that I did not cook and it went bad.

when meat goes bad

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