I have the most stupid DH on MN

[magicstar1]

DH cooked dinner tonight and had some sausages on his plate along with dinner. I commented on how strong they smelled and asked where he got them. He laughed and said “from the bin”.
Last night I was checking the fridge and at the back found a pack of leek sausages dated April 1st...the pack had swelled right up and bubbles were oozing out the side, so I threw them out. These are what he’s just eaten!
Now he burping away and I can’t believe he’s that thick!
AIBU to make him sleep with a bucket tonight

I just had a look at some alerts Sadie - big hepatitis A outbreak in Hawaii in 2016 caused by frozen scallops imported from the Philippines and consumed raw in a chain of sushi restaurants, but nothing else of note really.

I have one please weeds, it might be a silly question!

If I buy 2 steaks or 2 salmon fillets in packaging (so not from fish / butcher counter), is it OK that I open the packaging and freeze them separately in freezer bags or is that bad cos I destroyed the vacuum (which you said something about above)?

Thank you!

BessMarvin I cant answer factually but I have bought large packs of mince and opened to split into two and freeze to eat at a later date. I’ve done the same with diced chicken and split it to freeze in two bags and have always been fine. I’m very conscious of issues around food etc and check dates religiously and smell and check everything before using. Thankfully, I’ve never had food poisoning so must be doing something right lol. I look forward to a proper answer from weeds though incase I am wrong and should stop doing so.

Bess that's fine.
Vacuum / MAP extends shelf life of chilled products, which ( most) bacteria need to multiply. When you freeze your steak you have applied a different form of preservation and the shelf life will now be longer than the original date on the pack.
If your salmon had a shelf life of ( for the sake of argument) a UB date of 20/04/18. You open it today and eat one piece, then put the other on a plate in your fridge, the remaining piece no longer get has a UB date of 20th because you have exposed it to oxygen and are now relying on chilling alone to control bacteria.
So your last bit of fish will now have perhaps 2 or 3 days life not 10.
You could extend this more by adding salt, sugar, vinegar etc, which obviously affects the flavour and texture ( this is the process for products like gravadlax or roll mops).
Or you could cook it to kill off bacteria before refrigeration and get maybe 4 or 5 days life.
Canning it would give you an ambient stable product with years of life ( Don't try canning low acid food at home, you won't have the right equipment and it's really dangerous )
It's all a balancing act between one or more forms of preservation.

First sentence should have read "vacuum / MAP extends shelf life of chilled products by excluding oxygen"

@Weedsnseeds1 you're great

This is just an amazing thread. It's just fascinating. Thanks @weedsneeds01!

I always have a gazillion questions about food hygiene, but they all escape me now!

Maybe a chicken one...very very occasionally we'll open a supermarket pack of fresh chicken breast, and despite being well in date, the meat looks a bit anaemic and has a faint smell.

I like my chicken to smell of nothing, but DH always insists its perfectly alright whilst I pull faces and would cheerfully chuck it. He cooks it, eats it (alone) and is fine.

What is that faint aroma, what does it mean and is it still safe?!

Thank you Weeds I was having a sudden panic but sounds like it's completely fine.

This is all so interesting!

RsdioDorothy you do sometimes get a light smell opening vacuum packed / MAP / cryovac packed meat. It's caused by the lack of oxygen.
It's completely normal, harmless and will disappear a few minutes after eating.
The packaging also temporarily affects the colour - same reason, lack of oxygen so it's not combining with the molecules in any blood in the meat in the same way it would do if exposed to air.
It's easier to see in beef - bright red in packaging, but much darker if you see it open on a butcher's counter. It will darken if you leave it a while after opening.

@magicstar1
Sorry to have somewhat derailed your thread. Can we have a status update on Mr. Magicstar? Still alive and kicking?
Or at the very least, well enough for his regular guest spot in "Yum or Vom?" once filming starts

RadioDorothy Smell will disappear a few minutes after OPENING not eating.
I wish there was an edit button on here!

HAHA after eating!

Thanks so much, that's good to know.

Oh, oh, a fish one! I do love a traditional fish and chips in a pub, but on a couple of occasions I have cracked open the freshly cooked batter and got a strong smell of ammonia. I've tried ignoring it, but on taking a mouthful the smell is worse. My fellow diners look at me like I'm mad and I have to leave it. No one else can smell anything, and it tastes alright. But after an experience many, many, many years ago with some huss (remember huss?!) left in the door of the car all day and opened in the evening which stunk like a ripe soggy nappy, I just can't bring myself to eat it.

It only ever happens with cod, never haddock. Am I imagining it?

Sorry magicstar, how is the sausage saving DH?

🤮 that is so grim, why would you get sausages out of the bin?

That's an interesting one RadioDorothy.
Are you partial to a bit of skate by any chance?
Sharks and rays ( Huss / rock salmon is a chip shop name for small sharks like dogfish, spur dogs, bull Huss etc) excrete urea directly into their flesh to manage their salt intake. They don't filter sea water in the same way as other fish, so their flesh would kind of dry out, due to osmosis ( the salt in the seawater drawing moisture out of their cells) without the urea.
When they are killed, the urea breaks down into ammonia.
This will wear off after a few days, so an ammonia smell from Huss or skate means it's actually "too fresh"!
Other fish species shouldn't smell of ammonia, it's a sign of decomposition in them.
Either way, send it back as it won't be pleasant to eat.
It's not harmful in shark species,bit there could be something more sinister going on in other species, particularly scombroid fish like mackerel and tuna.
These produce scombratoxin after death, which is controlled by good handling and temperature control. An ammonia smell, indicating decomposition suggests poor temperature control. Scombratoxin causes a histamine reaction, so the same symptoms as an allergic reaction- itching mouth, swelling lips and eyes, difficulty breathing etc.
I love a bit of battered skate

DH is absolutely fine...I don't know how he does it
I am loving this thread though...Weeds is fantastic

Oooh I just saw your post about the ray fish. When I was a kid I used to love it, but had to have a cold cloth to wipe my mouth after each bite to kill the itching. It's worn off as I got older, but obviously my parents never realised it was a real allergic reaction

I think brie or other soft cheese can start to smell like ammonia after a bit!

Cannot make myself eat it, but DH does not even notice.

My DB is a food scientist, lacto fermentation, I get lots of good info from him, fascinating stuff.

I lived in Central America for years and have had fun with e-coli, salmonella and hep a. Ever since, I am a demon for food hygiene, and have followed this thread with morbid fascination

If anyone feels cheated out of spectacular tales of sickness, I have some up my sleeve including the time I got partially paralysed and had to be carried to hospital after passing blood all night then fainting in a backpacker hostel (why do I never get invited to dinner parties?! I have lots of good stories )

Food poisoning is no joke....

Spot on weedsnseeds1 it is that scallops are more mobile. They also don’t concentrate the toxins in the same way other shellfish do

Thought of this thread last night when I bought a reduced whole chicken for 80p.

Thought I'd better cook it straight away but peeled off the reduced sticker from the date just to check in case I could leave it until today.

It was already a day out of date when I bought it

There’s a really good book you can buy on Amazon that explains food preservation. I’m not plugging even though I’m mentioned in Acknowledgements!!
Preserved www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1856265323/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_1CqZAbFX1WRE4?tag=mumsnetforum-21

This opening post has actually given me stomach ache 🤢🤢

sincewhendid that’s illegal it was sold out of date but as stated previously when shelf life is determined there is a bit of leaway built in. With chicken the danger is undercooking.
As a general rule of thumb if it smells bad it’s just spoilage. Food poisoning organisms don’t affect taste or smell of food

I have to admit, I'd happily have cooked that since. Can't turn down an 80p chicken

But yes, illegal. Got over- excited by the thought of such an amazing reduction. I can't resist a yellow sticker!