Food - Drink
Warning Signs Your Pork Has Gone Bad
By CHRIS SANDS
Pork chops, baby back ribs, tacos al pastor, and countless more beloved dishes have pork in the starring role, but if you've ever bought too much of this popular protein, you know that it's prone to spoilage. A good rule is to eat your pork within 3 to 5 days of the sell-by date, but there are other ways to ensure that you don't eat bad meat.
Besides paying attention to expiration dates, pork’s appearance, smelly, and texture can tell you if it’s gone bad; if the meat is slimy, sticky, sour-smelling, or greenish or yellowish, it's time to chuck it. Another sign to look out for is puffed-up packaging, since bacteria on the expired pork release gasses that cause the wrapping to appear bloated.
If your pork is fresh with a pinkish hue and white fat, you still need to cook it to an internal temperature of at least 145 degrees F to avoid food poisoning, per the FDA. The FDA also says to keep your fridge at 40 degrees or colder when storing pork, and if you’re not going to use your pork within 4 days of purchasing, it’s best to freeze it.
