Should I eat this smoked salmon lox

April 12, 2017 3:41 PM

Sealed Kirkland smoked salmon (cold smoked, similar to lox?). Past it's best by date, looks and smells fine (yeah I know that's not proof for it being edible). It has a best before date that's hard to read, could be 2010 (doubtful) 2013 (possible, unlikely) or 2017. I don't see an eat by date. Again, it's not opened. Has been in the refrigerator cold consistently. More importantly I need this for dinner. :D What say you?
posted by Rufous-headed Towhee heehee to Food & Drink (12 answers total)

2017, maybe. 2010 or 2013 no way. Cold-smoked salmon is good for a few weeks at most no matter how it smells.
posted by Huck500 at 3:54 PM on April 12, 2017 [8 favorites]

Nope. Too ambiguous.
posted by joan_holloway at 3:55 PM on April 12, 2017 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I'm on team "eh, eat it," normally, and I have definitely rolled the dice and eaten that specific Costco salmon slightly past its use by date if not yet opened and it has been in the fridge. Protip: keep it in the freezer until you open it next time if you're not sure when you'll use it, it does just fine there.

BUT- man, if there is a reasonable chance that it is NOT FROM THIS YEAR, and it has been in the refrigerator and not the freezer this whole time (years???) that is a pretty hard no for me.
posted by charmedimsure at 4:03 PM on April 12, 2017 [10 favorites]

A few weeks past the date, yes eat it. Four to seven YEARS?!? Oh hell NO.
posted by easily confused at 4:06 PM on April 12, 2017 [4 favorites]

Smoked salmon? Eat.
posted by Dashy at 4:23 PM on April 12, 2017

Can you post a pic of the date? I'm having trouble understanding how those years look alike, maybe you're reading it incorrectly? In any case, don't eat years-old fish.
posted by donnagirl at 4:25 PM on April 12, 2017 [5 favorites]

Besides being in a container, was it in one of those vacuum sealed pouches? If so, I say try it.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 5:13 PM on April 12, 2017

Are there any other codes on the package? You might find the date of manufacture in Julian Day format, and you can convert Julian Days to another date format.
posted by reeddavid at 5:46 PM on April 12, 2017

Did you buy it? If you did and it was within the last 3-4 years, it's vanishingly unlikely that Costco would sell you smoked salmon that's that expired.

Alternative explanation: are you sure it wasn't originally frozen? Costco has great little smoked salmon packs that are sold frozen (and stay safe indefinitely while frozen, regardless of best by date) so it'd just depend how long it's been thawed for, which you can't tell from the date. Do you have any idea how long it's been in the fridge and where it was before that?
posted by randomnity at 6:08 PM on April 12, 2017

Response by poster: I decided against it. The best by date was on a paper label stuck to it that was worn, that's why I couldn't tell what year, but it's just not worth the hazard. It had been previously frozen (said the packaging) but I was keeping it in the fridge. Thanks all!!
posted by Rufous-headed Towhee heehee at 7:33 PM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'm almost always on team EatIt, but I think you made the right choice.
posted by Dolley at 6:43 AM on April 13, 2017

Worn out label, frozen, then thawed - potentially for years! - and it's FISH?

You, my friend, did the right thing.
posted by lydhre at 7:34 AM on April 13, 2017 [1 favorite]