Half pound dietz & watz turkey, has pink on it, what is that ?

Question

I've been trying to stock food in the fridge.

So I thought buying two half pounds of turkey ( lunchmeat ) would be a good thing to do.

It's only 8 days old. I bought it 8-13-2008. Today is August 21st.

( how fast does turkey go bad ) - That pink stuff looked like it was starting to rot, and I always thought foods turn green when rotting.

To make a long story short, I was able to find some slices that had no pink on them. So I made a turkey & cheese sandwhich anyway.

I'm figuring the most that will happen is I'll get a stomach ache.

My main question is ...

What's that pink stuff ?

How long does turkey go old in the refrigerator ?

Thanks ...

Answer 1

If you purchased the turkey at the deli counter it may be going bad.  I always get the packaged meat because it has some preservatives in it.  (Like Oscar Mayer or Hillshire Farms in the tub).   I have had a problem with deli meat going bad.  I think that 8 days is a little long to keep deli meat.  If you purchase the packaged meat it will have an expiration date on it.  It does stay fresh longer.

Sometimes turkey has a pinkish coloring to the meat.  It may be OK, but I would want to see it first.  Does it look like something is growing on it?  If so, throw it out.

Also, you don't know how long a deli has had that meat.  If it is pre-packaged, you will know when it was opened.