The Life Span of Food

[bijou]

They lurk in the unknown depths of your fridge, waiting to unleash their putrid attacks upon innocent snackers. They’re the forgotten leftovers, and every year they gross out millions of guys around the globe. Unfortunately, we think of the fridge as a cryogenic chamber that's capable of keeping food in suspended animation indefinitely.

Pizza from last month? No problem, it’s been in the fridge. Leftover pasta from Valentine’s Day dinner? Sure! But even at a chilly 40 degrees, mold and bacteria can thrive. Leftovers and fresh food can be crawling with microscopic bugs that could make you sick.

So exactly how long can food be kept in your fridge before it goes bad? It depends, and if it doesn’t have an expiration date, it could be difficult to determine. Some foods have superior life spans, while others decay at an alarming rate. Keep reading to find out the life span of food that you're stashing in the back of your fridge right now.

Meat
Life span: Two days to a week
If you grabbed some ground beef at the market, make your burgers or pasta sauce right away. Fresh meat -- fish, beef, pork, and poultry -- won’t last longer than two days in your fridge.

Leftover cooked meat will kick around a bit longer, but as a general rule, try to eat it within a week.

Cooked pork chops should be gobbled up sooner, within three days. Your holiday ham and other smoked or cured meats can hang in there for one week. Make lots of ham sandwiches and hash if you don’t want it to go to waste. Bacon, unless frozen, has a similar shelf life.

Death rattle: A good general rule is that if it smells bad, it is bad. Meats, fresh or cured, will stink when they’re rotten or even beginning to turn. Red meat and pork chops will also turn grayish in color. Fish will smell, well, really fishy. Fresh fish should have virtually no odor, just like sushi. Poultry is probably the most difficult to pin down. Raw chicken will smell sour and could develop a slick film when it goes bad.

Cheese
Life span: One week to two months ...

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/0...#ixzz1VggI1gko

[Novaheart]

People seem to think that bottled salad dressings are eternal.

[fettpett]

People seem to think that bottled salad dressings are eternal.

:eek::eek: you mean they aren't??

[bijou]

People seem to think that bottled salad dressings are eternal.

Aren't they just used twice then moved to the back of the fridge? Or is that just me? :o:D

[Novaheart]

Aren't they just used twice then moved to the back of the fridge? Or is that just me? :o:D

I would say that normally applies to new flavors. I like to keep a blue cheese or ranch around as well as Ken's Steak House Greek. But, I bought a new (to me) flavor the other night which might be my new "everything" condiment. Sweet Vidalia Onion dressing.

[Zafod]

They say Bacon only lasts 7 days but that's not really true. Smoke cured Bacon has a fridge life of about a month.

[Apocalypse]

Oh wow... I wouldn't suggest following this so close.

Meat
Life span: Two days to a week
If you grabbed some ground beef at the market, make your burgers or pasta sauce right away. Fresh meat -- fish, beef, pork, and poultry -- won’t last longer than two days in your fridge.

Two days max. Else freeze it. A week? Unless its one of those gas packed packages of meat from Walmart (Even those are iffy on life) never. That cellophane is a breathable. Meaning that air can penetrate it. Thats why it looks nice and red when you buy it. Because the air is keeping it that bright red. Else it would be a dark red as the meat isn't getting the air to brighten it.

Leftover cooked meat will kick around a bit longer, but as a general rule, try to eat it within a week.

Cooked pork chops should be gobbled up sooner, within three days.

Again two days max. Or freeze it. Even sealing it in Tupperware really doesn't help prolong it a lot. The air still has gotten to it, and thus the break down process has started.

Your holiday ham and other smoked or cured meats can hang in there for one week. Make lots of ham sandwiches and hash if you don’t want it to go to waste. Bacon, unless frozen, has a similar shelf life.

Ham and other smoked (Cured) meats can survive a while longer. But I really wouldn't suggest more then three days if you can help it. Freezing can result in it being watery when pulled from the freezer, but won't hurt it.

Death rattle: A good general rule is that if it smells bad, it is bad.

There is more to this rule then just smell.

The full rule is;
If it smells bad, looks bad or feels bad don't eat it. And the number one thing to this, if in doubt, throw it out. Its not worth getting sick over it.

Meats, fresh or cured, will stink when they’re rotten or even beginning to turn.

Ham will get slimy and develop a sour taste. It may not always stink, it may also not always turn colors. Light will affect lunch meat. Turning gray faster, thou its still good. For those who buy it fresh from a deli. Its the salt and light reacting in the cured meat.

Red meat and pork chops will also turn grayish in color.

Red meat doesn't turn gray, it turns blackish. Chops can, but with it being a white meat, the graying is hard to tell.

Fish will smell, well, really fishy. Fresh fish should have virtually no odor, just like sushi.

Who wrote this thing? Fresh fish has a fishy smell, some fish stronger then others. Take tilapia, very strong fish smell even when fresh, and noticeable even when frozen.

And just like sushi? Sushi is rice. In fact it means "With Rice" in Japaneses. Sushi (すし、寿司, 鮨, 鮓, 寿斗, 寿し, 壽司) is a Japanese delicacy consisting of cooked vinegared rice (shari) combined with other ingredients (neta). This person I would guess is trying to use the word Sashimi. Thou this still wouldn't be an accurate word for this article.

Poultry is probably the most difficult to pin down. Raw chicken will smell sour and could develop a slick film when it goes bad.

Unless the person has no sense of smell, poultry is the easiest to tell if its gone bad. It will stink to high hell, be slick, and look funny. (Meat not skin will be darkened.)

Cheese
Life span: One week to two months ...

two months is really pushing it, unless we are talking some of the specialty aged cheeses. And all need to be sealed properly.

One other thing, some people will buy lunch meat in the packs from the self serve area of the stores. These come with nice sell by dates on them. And those dates can be passed by 3-4 days with out much worry as long as the seal on them is not broken. But once its been opened, that rule of 2 days immediately applies. For you have now allowed air in and the break down process has now started. So don't go by that date once opened.