Is My Chicken Bad?

I was going to make chicken for dinner tonight, but I'm not sure if it's still good. I froze it immediately when I bought it, defrosted it, and it's been in the fridge for a few days. It's past the date, but it was frozen immediately, so I'm not sure if that makes a difference.

It has no smell or discoloration. There appears to be more "water" (or whatever that is) in the package, and it feels a little wet/slick, but... it usually feels like that, no?

I'm not sure whether it's okay or not.

Help!

How many days past the sell date is it?

Originally Posted by luvmycat1

How many days past the sell date is it?

Click to expand...

The date was Feb 26th. Not sure when I bought/froze it.

If there is no odor, then usually it's ok. Believe me....if it was the least bit bad...your nose would know!

Personally I wouldn't eat it but I'm scared of anything past the sell date, frozen or not. I just asked DH, which has a pretty good idea about this stuff. He said he wouldn't eat it because it's been thawed out for a few days now. He said usually when something is past the sell date you should cook it as soon as it's thawed.

Usually you would smell it after a few days after the sell by date even if it's been in the fridge, but personally i would be binning it because i wouldn't feel safe eating it

Generally, food is good for a few days after the sell by date. The Sell by date is used by the grocers to pull food. And since the chicken has been frozen, I believe you should be fine.

I believe for thawed raw meat in the fridge you're not supposed to eat it after 1-2 days due to bacterial growth. For processed meats like lunch meat it's only 5 days - many people don't follow that recommendation.

You can't always trust your nose. Humans do not have that sensitive of noses.

If you froze it immediately, then in theory it should be good for as many days after you thaw it (assuming you thawed it in the fridge, and not in warm water) as it was days until the "sell by" date when you froze it.

I know that's complicated. But if you bought it on the 24th and it had a 26th date, it was still good for 2 days. Once you thaw it, you still have 2 days.

And if you cook it thoroughly, most bacteria can't survive, anyway.

I used to deliver frozen and refrigerated foods to grocery stores. Some stores I don't trust, others are extremely good. Wal-Mart superstores do very well, because they take the food straight off the truck and into their freezers and refrigerators. I've seen some stores that don't have enough space and have to wait for a while before they put the meats directly on the shelf.