It ’s an otherwise normal Thursday eve , except for the fact that you sum an time of day to the end of your workday , got caught in traffic on the manner home and then vowed to schnorr through the icebox for supper because you refused to spend the little detached meter you had depart wandering through a grocery depot .
It seemed like a decent plan until you actually inspected the contents of your kitchen ’s stale entrepot . A few baby carrots , some ancient hommos in a plastic takeout container , a tomato and — aha ! — half a package of raw bacon . It was n’t that long ago that you were whipping up BLTs for the whole crowd , so this 1st Baron Verulam should still be edible , right ? Upon closer inspection , you ’re not so sure … it ’s a fishy shade of tan , and it does n’t quite smell right , either .
Why does process meat spoil so rapidly ? If it did n’t , you ’d already be well on your way of life to a plate of crispy bacon . If only you had some remnant marrow that was n’t process . After all , unprocessed meat keep longer , right ?
Wrong . unrefined nub , like slice turkey , chicken cutlets or steak , have a ledge life of three to five days when sore or freshly cooked . Processed meats , on the other hand , can last several weeks in the refrigerator . live dogs , for lesson , can string up out in the icebox for two weeks if unopened and one week if opened . Lunch meat has a two - week safe zone when refrigerated in its original packaging , but it should be eaten within five day if the packaging is opened or if it was purchased from a deli [ reference : Meat Safety ] .
So , what qualifies as processed sum ? The bacon on your morning bagel , the pastrami on your late - Nox sandwich — any meats that have been preserved by smoking , heal , salting or contribute chemicals come into the " work kernel " family . This include deli lunch meats that have a case or that have been compress into cylindrical figure , as well asham , blimp , red-hot dogs and cured pork barrel chop . In general , meat compressed into cracking shapes designed to fit on wampum or buns are process .
While processed meats remain edible longer than brisk nub when salt away in your icebox , it ’s still a good approximation to confab the " safe by " dates on the packaging . These guidelines will let you know when the marrow is safe to eat and when it ’s no longer eatable . Any heart — processed or not — poses a risk if consumed when outdated .
