The last thing you want to do when making dinner is serve ribs that look or smell bad. Nor do you want to dish up bad pork chops that could cause people to fall sick. Fortunately, there are some pretty clear tip-offs when your pork is spoiled.
Find out the most common ways to tell if your pork has gone bad and what you need to know to stay safe around food.
When you purchase meat, youll typically see a sell-by date listed on the packaging. MSU says that stores use this date to figure out when to take food off the shelves and throw it away.
If you buy pork, the USDA says you should use or freeze it within 3 to 5 days of the sell-by date.
There may be more than one date on the package. There is a sell-by date and a use-by date. The use-by date tells you when to eat (or freeze) the food, according to Michigan State University. The expiration date is the date after which you should throw it away.
This is why Catie Beauchamp, PhD, vice president of food science, quality, and safety at ButcherBox, always tells people to check the use-by date on ready-to-eat foods like deli ham: “Sometimes you can’t tell when something is going bad with your senses.”
The Distinct Flavor of Spoiled Pork – What Does Bad Pork Taste Like?
Pork is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide. But like any meat pork can spoil and become unsafe to eat. Eating spoiled pork can cause severe food poisoning. So what does spoiled pork actually taste like?
Understanding the distinct taste of bad pork helps you identify meat gone bad and avoid potential illness. This article covers:
- The flavor of fresh vs spoiled pork
- How taste changes as pork spoils
- Describing the taste of bad pork
- Other signs of spoiled pork
- Dangers of eating spoiled pork
- How to tell if cooked pork is bad
Read on to learn about the distinct taste of pork gone bad and how to detect it.
How Fresh Raw Pork Should Taste
Fresh, good quality raw pork has a mild flavor. The meat should not have much odor or taste prior to cooking. The mild taste allows pork to absorb spices and flavors easily.
Wet-cured hams may have a salty, smoky, or sweet taste from the curing process. Dry-cured ham like prosciutto is more intensely flavored.
But fresh pork like chops, roasts, ground pork, etc. has a very subtle taste on its own. Any strong flavors indicate spoilage.
How the Taste Changes as Pork Spoils
As pork decomposes, the proteins and fats break down. This creates a noticeable sour or rancid taste.
The sour taste grows stronger over time as more bacteria colonize the meat. Other descriptive terms for spoiled pork include:
- Sharp
- Tangy
- Ammonia-like
- Rotten
- Unpleasant
The tangy, acidic flavor intensifies to the point where the meat is clearly inedible.
Describing the Distinct Taste of Bad Pork
The best descriptors for spoiled raw pork are sour and tangy. The sour flavor comes from increased bacteria on the meat breaking down tissue.
As the meat turns from pink to grey, the tangy sourness grows stronger. By the time pork has turned fully gray, it tastes quite pungent and acidic.
The tanginess is reminiscent of spoiled milk or sour yogurt. Except with pork, the sour flavor has a rotting undertone.
With extensive spoilage, pork tastes quite similar to ammonia. This harsh, very tangy flavor reinforces that the meat has turned inedible.
Other Signs of Spoiled Pork Beyond Taste
Taste is a clear indicator of spoiled pork. But here are other signs:
- Slimy texture
- Unpleasant sour odor
- Gray color inside
- Mold growth
- Green tint
Trust your senses of smell, sight, and touch along with taste. Discard pork at the first signs of spoilage.
Dangers of Consuming Spoiled Pork
Eating spoiled pork can cause foodborne illnesses like:
- Salmonella – Diarrhea, fever, cramps
- E. coli – Severe diarrhea, vomiting, kidney failure
- Listeria – Fever, muscle aches, nausea
- Trichinosis – Muscle pain, fever, chills
Symptoms may appear within hours or take several days to surface. Seek medical help immediately if you consume bad pork.
How to Tell If Cooked Pork Has Spoiled
With cooked pork, the sour taste becomes more concentrated. Reheating spoiled pork makes the unpleasant flavors stronger.
Leftover pork that smells or tastes off should be discarded, even if it’s been previously cooked through. Roasts, chops, ham slices, etc. should have no sour or tangy flavor.
Trust your senses. If cooked pork smells or tastes bad, it is not safe to eat. Don’t risk getting sick from eating potentially hazardous meat.
The Bottom Line
Spoiled pork has a distinct tangy, sour flavor indicative of bacteria breaking down the fatty tissues. If you detect an ammonia-like, acidic or sharp taste from raw or cooked pork, play it safe and throw it out.
Identifying the taste of bad pork can prevent foodborne illness and life-threatening complications. When in doubt, remember the distinct sour taste and discard meat that makes your taste buds cringe.
The Color Is Off
Amidor says, “You should look for fresh pork that is light pink and has firm, white fat.” An excessively dark color with soft or rancid fat is a sign that it might be spoiled. But color isnt always a decisive factor, Beauchamp points.
“While color may be an indicator of spoilage it doesnt always mean a product is spoiled,” she says. When oxygen gets into a package that isn’t tightly sealed, it can cause the color to change.
“Oxidization is a perfectly normal and safe occurrence,” Beauchamp says. Spoilage can occur if theres too much oxygen or too long of an exposure, she says.
It Smells or Tastes Off
If you open a package of pork and smell something bad, whether it’s pork chops, sausage, or deli meat, it means the pork is going bad. The odor from spoiled pork can sometimes be bad or sour, Amidor says.
Plus, spoiled pork may taste different. “Hopefully someone is able to detect spoilage before they taste an item,” Beauchamp notes.
How To Tell If Pork Has Gone Bad
FAQ
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