I rarely buy ground beef at the supermarket, but about 2 weeks ago it was on
sale and I bought a package.

I intended to make a quick chili for dinner a couple of days after I bought
the beef, but our plans changed. A couple days after that it occurred to me
I'd better check the ground beef package to see if I could still use or if
it had to be tossed. The Use or Freeze By date was March 15. I ended up
using it last night in spaghetti sauce, and it was fine.

Time was when you had to use ground beef within three or four days of
purchase. What are they doing to it nowadays to give it a refrigerated
shelf life of more than 2 weeks?

Anny

"Anny Middon" > wrote in message
et...
>I rarely buy ground beef at the supermarket, but about 2 weeks ago it was
>on sale and I bought a package.
>
> I intended to make a quick chili for dinner a couple of days after I
> bought the beef, but our plans changed. A couple days after that it
> occurred to me I'd better check the ground beef package to see if I could
> still use or if it had to be tossed. The Use or Freeze By date was March
> 15. I ended up using it last night in spaghetti sauce, and it was fine.
>
> Time was when you had to use ground beef within three or four days of
> purchase. What are they doing to it nowadays to give it a refrigerated
> shelf life of more than 2 weeks?
>
> Anny
>
>

Irradiated, maybe? I haven't followed this issue, so I don't know if
irradiated meat has to be marked as such.

Anny Middon wrote:
>
> I rarely buy ground beef at the supermarket, but about 2 weeks ago it was on
> sale and I bought a package.
>
> I intended to make a quick chili for dinner a couple of days after I bought
> the beef, but our plans changed. A couple days after that it occurred to me
> I'd better check the ground beef package to see if I could still use or if
> it had to be tossed. The Use or Freeze By date was March 15. I ended up
> using it last night in spaghetti sauce, and it was fine.
>
> Time was when you had to use ground beef within three or four days of
> purchase. What are they doing to it nowadays to give it a refrigerated
> shelf life of more than 2 weeks?
>
> Anny

Not sure what they may be doing to extend the *safe* shelf life, but I'm
pretty sure they haven't found anything to increase the *quality* shelf
life. In something like spaghetti sauce it was probably fine, but for
something like a burger where the flavor is not masked it likely would
have been pretty bad.

Pete C.

Anny Middon wrote:
> Time was when you had to use ground beef within three or four days of
> purchase. What are they doing to it nowadays to give it a refrigerated
> shelf life of more than 2 weeks?

Covering their tails by telling you to cook it until it's well-done.

--Blair
"See? E. Coli was good for someone."

>Irradiated, maybe? I haven't followed this issue, so I don't know if
>irradiated meat has to be marked as such.

Supposedly, according to the USDA. I never know how much weight to give
to their public statements, but they are at least on paper as claiming
that all irradiated food has to have a little symbol on it. Although,
if I were to find out tomorrow that meat is being irradiated and nobody
is putting anything at all on the label, I wouldn't exactly be
surprised.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets...fety/index.asp

"Anny Middon" > wrote in message
et...
> I rarely buy ground beef at the supermarket, but about 2 weeks ago it was
on
> sale and I bought a package.
>
> I intended to make a quick chili for dinner a couple of days after I
bought
> the beef, but our plans changed. A couple days after that it occurred to
me
> I'd better check the ground beef package to see if I could still use or if
> it had to be tossed. The Use or Freeze By date was March 15. I ended up
> using it last night in spaghetti sauce, and it was fine.
>
> Time was when you had to use ground beef within three or four days of
> purchase. What are they doing to it nowadays to give it a refrigerated
> shelf life of more than 2 weeks?
>
Maybe it's been packaged with Carbon Monoxide?

http://www.ktre.com/Global/story.asp...3&nav=2FH5ayjd

"Anny Middon" > wrote in message
et...
>I rarely buy ground beef at the supermarket, but about 2 weeks ago it was
>on sale and I bought a package.
>
> I intended to make a quick chili for dinner a couple of days after I
> bought the beef, but our plans changed. A couple days after that it
> occurred to me I'd better check the ground beef package to see if I could
> still use or if it had to be tossed. The Use or Freeze By date was March
> 15. I ended up using it last night in spaghetti sauce, and it was fine.
>
> Time was when you had to use ground beef within three or four days of
> purchase. What are they doing to it nowadays to give it a refrigerated
> shelf life of more than 2 weeks?
>
> Anny
>
>

You could call the store's home office and ask to speak to the buyer in
charge of the product. It's uncommon, but every now and then, you find one
who actually knows something about the product he/she manages.

Christopher Helms wrote:
> >Irradiated, maybe? I haven't followed this issue, so I don't know if
> >irradiated meat has to be marked as such.
>
> Supposedly, according to the USDA. I never know how much weight to give
> to their public statements, but they are at least on paper as claiming
> that all irradiated food has to have a little symbol on it.
> http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets...fety/index.asp

Love that symbol. Looks like it means "organic", when it really means
"chemically altered by bombardment with nuclear radiation". I wonder
how many prions are created that way.

--Blair

Good question! I bought a couple whole, raw chickens the other day,
and didn't have time to cook them until two days later. Frankly, I was
thinking of tossing them, thinking they were too old, but then noticed
the sell-by date was still a WEEK away.

Heck, a *day* or two later I wouldn't have gotten near them without a
gas mask.

>>
>> Time was when you had to use ground beef within three or four days of
>> purchase. What are they doing to it nowadays to give it a refrigerated
>> shelf life of more than 2 weeks?
>>
>
My local FRYs supermarket sells ground beef
packed in 2 and 3 lb tubes. ( like a fat sausage )

Supposedly, being ground and packed at the meat=packing plant
gives it a longer shelf life.... ( their claim... not mine )

<rj>

"<RJ>" > wrote in message
...
>>>
>>> Time was when you had to use ground beef within three or four days of
>>> purchase. What are they doing to it nowadays to give it a refrigerated
>>> shelf life of more than 2 weeks?
>>>
>>
> My local FRYs supermarket sells ground beef
> packed in 2 and 3 lb tubes. ( like a fat sausage )
>
> Supposedly, being ground and packed at the meat=packing plant
> gives it a longer shelf life.... ( their claim... not mine )
>
> <rj>

Well, it's handled just once that way.