Am I being over cautious with chicken?

Lemoncurd

For the second time in a few months I've thrown away a whole uncooked chicken from my internet shopping.
We always put them straight in the fridge when they arrive but on the first occasion I opened one within use by date to be hit by a horrific smell, the packaging was also full of a thick opaque liquid.
This week one arrived late at night and although sealed I noticed a bit of a smell when putting it in the fridge. Went to use it 36 hours later and again noticed a terrible smell and it was an unusual greyish colour. I then noticed that it was on the use by date already.
Both were refunded without quibble but would these have probably been safe to eat properly cooked?

steff1989

No you are not being over cautious - Chicken is a high risk food and shouldn't be eaten after the use by date even if it is cooked or if you notice a strange 'off' smell and colour.

But even if there is no smell or colour and it looks/smells fine, it shouldn't be eaten after the use by

(source - me, I study a food course at uni)

(and for VfM4meplse - I can't find my notes sorry, and just because I'm at uni I don't need to academically reference everything! oh and my diss is on a totally different more interesting topic )

teagan1966

hi
its personal choice, i think a lot of the time it is juices collecting in the bottom of the packing, but i do think people are too fussy , iv had that smell moved my chicken on to a clean plate and its fine,
i do take note of dates but look at each item in its own way , iv used yoghurt a month out of date to make chicken tikka was fine
i do think people worry too much
teagan

VfM4meplse

steff1989 wrote: »

(source - me, I study a food course at uni).

Although what you are saying is correct, this is hardly an valid academic citation! You'll have to do better with your dissertation.

PotatoPotato

teagan1966 wrote: »

hi
its personal choice, i think a lot of the time it is juices collecting in the bottom of the packing, but i do think people are too fussy , iv had that smell moved my chicken on to a clean plate and its fine,
i do take note of dates but look at each item in its own way , iv used yoghurt a month out of date to make chicken tikka was fine
i do think people worry too much
teagan

If you heated up that 1 month out of date yoghurt, wouldnt that kill of the "bacteria" that could have built up?

Yes OP, i did my first online order from tesco this week. received some chicken (fridge fresh) and the use by was 29th.
I opened it and was hit with a bad smell... needless to say i phoned up, got a no quibble refund. I definitely didnt eat it!

So from now on, learnt from that mistake... i'm not gonna by fresh chicken item online. (even though i got 2 other fresh chicken items that i put in the freezer, i will defrost them tonight for tomorrow use... i hope they're not off too)

s_b

as one who has had salmonella poisoning i would also recommend dont eat it
PotatoPotato has a good call too