When in doubt, throw it out? Food!

[Shellie]

I don't want to waste $$ and also don't want to make my family sick!

How long is an opened jar of spaghetti sauce good in the fridge? It's Newman's and it doesn't say!

I froze a big package of tilapia on the last sell-by date. It's made the whole freezer smell fishy....even though it didn't smell fishy in the fridge--it's only been in there a couple weeks. It'd been in the fridge about a week before I froze it. That fridge is our extra and stays very cold (we don't open it often and I keep it really cold for our extra milk, etc.).

Whatcha think? Keep in mine my dd is immunosuppressed and I worry about getting her sick more than the rest of us!

[sanguine_speed]

Huh...I'm not sure. I do know I end up throwing things out when I'm not sure. I'm looking forward to hearing others' feedback.

[JennaW]

I would say marina sauce is probably best to use within 2 weeks.

I would toss the fish, good fish doesn't smell "fishy".

I would be very careful since your daughter is immunosuppressed. I don't like wasting food but I am very careful when it comes to food safety.

I am Serv-Safe certified and have gotten the pleasure of reading about all of those food borne illnesses in detail.

[JennaW]

I would also suggest freezing the marinara sauce, that way you don't waste it and don't have to worry about the growth of bacteria. I know another Mama on here said something about freezing sauce in muffin pans and then putting the "sauce pucks" in a zip lock bag in the freezer. I think that's a great idea.

[saimeiyu]

I'll probably get some evil eye for this one.. but when in doubt, I just feed it to my dog. He love love loves it when I clean out my fridge.

[choli]

I wouldn't eat fish that had been in the fridge for a week, so I wouldn't eat it after a week in the fridge and then frozen. Actually, I never keep fresh fish more than one day. If it smells, it's bad.

[Shellie]

OK, so the fish goes! LOL! I will try not to look at the $11 price tag on its way to the trash. I honestly don't know why I didn't freeze it sooner...and it seemed really odd to me that the sell-by date was so far away on fresh fish. I bought it at Costco...next time I'll use or freeze immediately!

I will toss the sauce too...and next time freeze. I LOVE that idea!!!!

Thanks

(And I often do feed things that are still good but just a little old for my taste to the dog!)

[MomToKandE]

I'd toss the fish. The sauce, well... I use it unless there is mold growing on the top. (yes, I've had that happen more than once) No one in my house is immunosuppressed though.... maybe call the 1-800 number on the jar and ask?

[Ammaarah]

If it went bad by the sell-by date, take it back to Costco.

Tilapia has virtually no smell so I would definitely toss stinky tilapia.

[Ammaarah]

If it went bad by the sell-by date, take it back to Costco.

Tilapia has virtually no smell so I would definitely toss stinky tilapia.

[Shellie]

Originally Posted by Ammaarah

If it went bad by the sell-by date, take it back to Costco.

Tilapia has virtually no smell so I would definitely toss stinky tilapia.

Think they'd take it back even though that was over two weeks ago? I tossed it in the freezer and didn't notice a smell till it was frozen, which I though was REALLY wierd!

[SusannahM]

I was one that would used to have said use the marinara sauce unless there was mold, then my husband and I got food poisoning one day from some old ketchup. So, I'm a little more conservative with the old tomato products now.

[Ammaarah]

Originally Posted by Shellie

Think they'd take it back even though that was over two weeks ago? I tossed it in the freezer and didn't notice a smell till it was frozen, which I though was REALLY wierd!

I think if you tell them you froze it by the sell by date, they'd take it back. I dropped a pack of croissants in the parking lot once because the person packing my cart had put it in a weird unstable position (which I should have still checked but didn't) and they gave me another pack without any hassle! They are very good about returns.

ETA: It is REALLY weird that it smelled bad even in the freezer.

[amyamanda]

If I think something is on "the edge" I try to make it a point to use it in something that will be boiled, like soup. I would boil marinara sauce if I was not sure (after it passed the sniff test, of course).

[mum4boys]

Boy I am must more conservative then all of you when it comes to food. Of course I have wound up in the hospital before from food poisoning (from a restaurant). Marinara sauce I use in 3 days or freeze or else it is out. Fish I use right away within a day or it goes in the freezer.

[Amys1st]

Originally Posted by choli

I wouldn't eat fish that had been in the fridge for a week, so I wouldn't eat it after a week in the fridge and then frozen. Actually, I never keep fresh fish more than one day. If it smells, it's bad.

O/T- this sounds like a Dr Suess book! I do not like green eggs and ham ...I do not eat fish thats been bad, in the fridge....


OK, too much of reading that lately...

Anyhow.. Last night I had pizza sauce that was in a tupperware container from a week ago that I used and it was fine. But I have opened those before to see crust on the top or a smell which then it goes in the garbage of course. One time I had a huge pack of ground up meat to make meatballs and it was 2 days past the due date to sell and DH took it and threw it out. I was livid for about 2 minutes until he said, I will waste $7 of meat instead of spending 3 plus days with food poisoning or something worse. The lesson, I make up my meatballs the day I buy it and then freeze them to cook later.

We had a long term power outage last summer and DH threw out a lot of the contents of our freezer- basically anything fish and any soft meat. His SIL is a chef and she has given us a rundown of food safety issues as well as my next door neighbor is also a chef and she has said the same thing. She threw out the entire contents of her fridge after that outage.

[katheek77]

I do smell and sight tests, tbh. I rarely look at a sell-by date. If it smells bad/off/etc, or if I see something not of this world growing on it/funny colors/etc, it gets tossed. Otherwise, I use it.

Something like tomato sauce...gosh, I've had it in the fridge for 2+ weeks, and it's fine (I do make sure to cook it back to boiling, though).

Fish that smells funny? Adios. I give fish 2-3 days TOPS in my fridge. But, I'm a compulsive freezer. Almost EVERYTHING goes in the freezer as soon as I buy it, b/c I tend to switch meals around a lot.

[abi&ben'smom]

At the restaurant that I worked at for many years, anything that was opened or cooked and put back in the fridge had to be used within 6 days. So I usually freeze anything that I don't think we'll eat the next day, just to be on the safe side!!

[shayinme]

Originally Posted by Amys1st

One time I had a huge pack of ground up meat to make meatballs and it was 2 days past the due date to sell and DH took it and threw it out. I was livid for about 2 minutes until he said, I will waste $7 of meat instead of spending 3 plus days with food poisoning or something worse. The lesson, I make up my meatballs the day I buy it and then freeze them to cook later.

I must admit I agree with your dh. my dh who hates to waste food has been the unfortunate recipient of food poisoning multiple times, once so bad he had to go to the ER. Yes, it sucks to waste food but several days spent sick as a dog to save a few bucks is just not worth it in my opinion.

Shay

[Crystal Pegasus]

Here in Australia I know at least some brands of pasta sauce jars have "use within 3 days of opening" on them. I might risk it a little longer, but not much... I'm pretty wary of potential food poisoning.