Is it safe to eat a sausage which has powdery white stuff on it?

Question

It was kept in the fridge, im not sure how old it is. But i dont trust the white stuff on it. What is it and can it kill me?

Answer 1

Just yesterday, there was a story carried by one of the major news channels regarding a particular grocery store who is getting rid of SOME of their food inventory that has gone SLIGHTLY outdated. They sell this food at approximately half off, and in this day and age of much higher food prices, the public is very enthused so this is becoming a popular new way to save money (look for other grocery stores to follow suit in the coming months).

The grocery store manager / owner has been in the grocery business all his life. He attests to having eaten out of date food for many years and has never suffered a health issue because of it.

Now of course, there comes a point when the food truly IS not fit to eat. This grocery store "expert" (let's call him) says to sniff the food, look for any signs of spoilage, test taste it...if it smells, looks, or tastes bad -- don't eat it.

But the reality of it is that many of these "deadlines" for product usage are not true "deadlines". They are "guidelines" and the appropriate labeling usually says "BEST if used by [such-and-such date].

Personally, I have noticed that some product usage guidelines need to be paid attention to more so than others. In my book, I do watch for expiration deadlines on dairy products and fish. When those dates occur, I notice a much faster incidence of spoilage than say for less volatile food like cookies or bread-type products.

As for pork and sausage, yes, you should be careful. And I would imagine that the makers of that sausage were conservative in setting the expiration date so as to not cause any illnesses.

But if you are only a day or two past the use by date, I think the sniff test should be an acceptable test for determining whether you should spend the time to cook it or risk eating it. You do not state whether the sausage is fully cooked and ready to eat. But as an added measure of safety, even if it is fully cooked, you could microwave it (or other) in an effort to kill any bacteria. You can never kill ALL the bacteria in anything you eat and that's why our bodies have natural defenses against these kinds of things. But cooking the food is always a safer way to go to reduce whatever bacteria there may be.

So in a nutshell, I say let your nose be the judge and if the sausage passes your own personal sniff test, go for it, but maybe cook it sufficiently to reduce all doubt.

But if it reeks or even causes you a little doubt after sniffing it, you are not going to enjoy the meal just thinking about taking this risk. So pitch it and forget it. Lessons learned.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Powdery white stuff... Probably mould i would say best not to eat it. And don't try cutting the moldy part off because once the mould has started to form on the product the bacteria has already started to spread throughout the food.

Hope this helps

Answer 3

Sausage is made from garbage mystery meat.  You never know what's in it.  One thing certain, it's sure not the good stuff.  It's always loaded with fat and preservatives.  Probably the unhealthiest thing a person could eat.  Toss it..

Answer 4

wow man.....that a spoiled sausage

Answer 5

it is frosting and makes it taste better...enjoy!

Answer 6

Ahhhh, oooohh! Maybe the white powder is milk, then it is safe.