Expired Food

I was googling how long certain foods last in the fridge, and someone else’s stunning question popped up as they asked, “Can you eat meat in the fridge if it smells bad?” That can’t seriously be a question! Who in their right mind smells meat that’s gone bad and needs to legit ask if that’s a good idea or not to EAT IT?!? If the meat in your fridge is starting to smell like the fenced in petting zoo section at a local fair, or if it smells like it just ran home after robbing a bank, it’s tainted. Walk away. In the answer Google generated, not only did it say do not eat that, it also said you should never press your nose INTO the meat to smell it. Wow. Thanks for that image in my head now. It must have happened enough for it to be addressed. Yikes. I’m picturing them standing there with the fridge door open, deep breathing in rancid meat while pushing their nose into it, and thinking to themselves that they’re still really hungry and it tasted good last week, so….“Meh, I’ve smelled worse things, might still be good. I think I’ll ask Google.” NO! Google will not give you the permission you seek to eat that. Have you never had food poisoning? Were you raised by wolves? Don’t waste your time, shut the fridge door and come up with a new plan that’s something legitimate to eat. There have been plenty of times where I’ve forgotten how many days ago I cooked something, so I have googled how long a specific food item can safely last refrigerated. However, once something as risqué as meat takes on an aggressive, pungent, eye watering, offensive aroma that makes you stop and question not only your life choices, but also whether it’ll turn on you and give you a really horrific couple of days or not, that decision is made for you. You should not need Google to state the obvious…and for heavens sakes do NOT stick your nose into your food. That’s disturbing. I can understand questioning milk, because sometimes that smells sketchy just normally. We all like to ask another member of the family to smell the milk to see if they think it’s too far gone. But MEAT? Just no. Poor Google. It gets asked some really outrageous things. When Google publishes the “most searched” questions, it is then that you realize people need more help than Google can provide. Have you noticed that lately? That there are a lot of people out there that need more help than Google can provide?