How can you tell if chicken is off?

[raf_gti]

Before I go whinging to the shop I thought I would check on here first (unfortunately there isn't a foodsafteyheads.com)

I bought an eight pack of fillets during my last shop, use-by date of 25 July, went to use some of them on Saturday and on opening the packet there was a VERY sweet smell emanating from the packet, not wishing to spend the rest of the weekend on the loo I decided to bin the packet.

I've never, ever had this from a packet of chicken before so I'm pretty sure they were off, pretty hacked off especially as I had the same with the previous shop.

[bob1179]

When chicken is off it doesn't smell sweet! It smells downright foul (no pun intended).

It sounds like it was OK, if it was bad you would have known.

[otolith]

Against my better judgement, I once ate some chicken fillets that didn't quite smell right, on the grounds that they were well in date and supermarkets are careful about this kind of thing. Gave me the sts - I suspect that if I hadn't cooked them well, they could have given me something much nastier. Because some bacteria produce toxins which survive cooking, you can't assume that making sure it's well done enough to kill off any bacteria will make it safe.

I won't eat anything now that fails the sniff test - I reckon that sometimes, especially in hot weather like this, slip-ups occur and food that has been left out of refrigeration too long ends up on the shelves. Mind you, it's rare these days that we buy meat from anywhere other than our local butcher, and he'd never sell anything that wasn't perfect.

[condor]

Could be your fridge isn't running at the correct temperature, or needs de-frosting?
I usually tell if food is off by the smell, sometimes mould on it is a clue too

[toasty]

If the chicken smells a bit, best not use it for sashimi.

We had some that smelled of flowers when cooking it. Straight in the bin with that.

[bull996]

I worked at Sainsburys a while ago unloading the lorrys on the "back door".

I arrived one afternoon to find a roller trolley full of various fresh meats, which had been delievered 2.5 earlier and clearly forgotten. They were at the edge of the loading bay in direct sun.

I was told to shut up, that it didnt convern me and to put it in the chiller.

I complained to higher up managers at the office, but was told the same. It all went on the shelf.

[simonej]

Chicken is the one meat that I always make sure I eat a couple of days before the use by date. Horrible stuff to handle and cook with in my opinion (unless it's wings/legs with the skin on - they're lovely!).

[spitfire-ian]

Having experienced the food poisoning weight loss detox diet a few years back I can say it's not very pleasant and that if you think something doesn't smell right don't chance it, bin it. Of course it may be fine but it's not really worth the risk.

[zcacogp]

While I agree with the above comments, chicken skin goes off before the meat itself. I have, on occasion, removed the skin from what appears to be slightly off chicken to find that the meat is fine. (And yes, I have eaten it with no ill-effects.)


Oli.