I purchased different cuts.of meat from grocery store and it's all bad

[Anonymous]

I purchased a pork loin, 2 steaks and a pack of chicken from Harris teeter yesterday. came right home and put everything in the fridge to prepare today. I opened the pork loin and it smelled bad. then the chicken and that was bad too. And finally the steak and those also smelled terrible. I checked my fridge temp several times today and it is at 40 degrees. nothing else in the fridge like milk or cottage cheese is bad.
this is $50 worth of food. what do youn think happened and what would you do?

[Anonymous]

Return them to the store. They will reimburse you.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a refrigeration failure along the distribution line, or possibly an expiration date labeling mistake. Ask for a refund.

[Anonymous]

Any chance it might be your sense of smell that’s the issue? Did anyone else sniff it for you?

[Anonymous]

My husband also smelled and agreed it was bad. I'll take it back tomorrow, I just hate returning stuff.

[Anonymous]

I think going forward you should keep your fridge in the mid 30s. Forty degrees is the upper end of the safe range and not every part of the fridge is the same temp.

[Anonymous]

Bad thermostat in yoru fridge? Use a meat thermometer to temp check other items in there.

Just seems odd that various meats would all be bad. The grocer uses different suppliers for each, and probably different truckers, and stores them in different refrigerator cases.

[Anonymous]

I find pork loin often has an off smell and cook it despite that. We've never gotten sick. I would never cook poultry that smells off.

[Anonymous]

put a meat thermometer in the meat and see what the temp is.

given that these came from different coolers in the store, it does not seem as if it is a store problem.

[Anonymous]

If any of the meat (especially pork) is vacuum packed, it smells bad when you open it. Rinse it, and let it air out (in the fridge) for a few minutes. If it still smells bad when you handle it normally (don't press your nose to it, most people don't really know what meat smells like when you are that close to it), then it's likely to be bad.


If the above is not the case, they may have had refrigeration issues in transport and it could have happened there. Or sometimes employees leave things sitting in the aisles for far longer than is safe. Just take it back.

[Anonymous]

What did you use to check your fridge temp? Like others said, 40 degrees is the very outer bounds of the safe range so if your temp gauge is off at all, your fridge may be too warm to safely store meat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:put a meat thermometer in the meat and see what the temp is.

given that these came from different coolers in the store, it does not seem as if it is a store problem.

NP, but it could, be a supply chain problem. The meat may all come on the safe refrigerated truck, which can fluctuate if they stop at other locations. Then they go to a back room, which is also temperature controlled. Finally, they come out to the floor, usually with a non refrigerated means of moving them. Then, depending on when OP does their meat shopping in their shop, they sit in the cart (I’ve seen people walk around a Walmart store general merchandise area for 45 min or more with raw meat in their carts), and finally, to OPs home. We bring coolers to shop, but I don’t think most people do.