Andouille, use or freeze by a month ago. Can I eat it?

April 15, 2018 10:12 PM

Package of Aidell's andouille sausage, not opened, kept refrigerated, use or freeze by date of March 8th. Can I make some jambalaya out of this tomorrow and not worry?
posted by Rufous-headed Towhee heehee to Food & Drink (11 answers total)

Did you open it up and smell it? I wouldn't use it myself, unless I had frozen it (did you?). I mean, it's April 15th, and it's meat. What is your question? Should you eat meat from March 8th now? I would say no. Why is that a question? Go buy some new meat, for fuck's sake.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 10:33 PM on April 15, 2018 [13 favorites]

Best answer: I'm pretty relaxed about this sort of question, especially with processed meats, but I wouldn't do this. No nitrites (except celery powder, which is a natural nitrate), no potassium or sodium lactate means that you're basically relying on salt and the smoking process alone for preservation. I wouldn't.
posted by mishafletch at 10:42 PM on April 15, 2018 [4 favorites]

After you open it up you'll probably not want to eat it any more- old sausage gets gross and slimy.
posted by dilaudid at 10:45 PM on April 15, 2018 [2 favorites]

NO No nononononononono Oh WOW no.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 11:09 PM on April 15, 2018 [5 favorites]

Don't do it.
posted by quince at 11:11 PM on April 15, 2018 [2 favorites]

Best answer: A week past, I would do and have done. Over a month past, nope.
posted by Standard Orange at 12:55 AM on April 16, 2018 [1 favorite]

I would not eat a meat product that was a month past its use-by date, no. It's a $5 packet of sausages, just go buy another one.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 4:05 AM on April 16, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: That's a nice tall glass of NOPE.
posted by brianogilvie at 7:48 AM on April 16, 2018 [1 favorite]

Can I make some jambalaya out of this tomorrow and not worry?

Sure you can.

The worry won't start until you contemplate eating it.

I eat all kinds of random crap that's been lounging in the back of our fridge, but I wouldn't eat jambalaya if I knew it had slimy old expired sausage in it.
posted by flabdablet at 8:10 AM on April 16, 2018

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo no no no no no. Do not eat it.
posted by sarcasticah at 10:36 AM on April 16, 2018

Sorry, but mishafletch, the celery powder is a substitute for nitrite, and is used (along with all of it's naturally occurring nitrite) in sausages and bacon so producers can prey on panic about additives. Nitrite acts to kill pathogens, especially botulism, that thrive in low oxygen warm environments like ground meat in a smoker. Salt and smoke have little to no effect on those pathogens, which makes any sausage or bacon actually made without nitrite more of a crapshoot than eating month old sausages.
posted by Ghidorah at 11:09 PM on April 17, 2018