Put 'Do Not Refreeze' chicken in freezer by mistake | ExpatWoman.com
 

Put 'Do Not Refreeze' chicken in freezer by mistake

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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 12:01

I did a shop at C4 last night and put all my meat away in the freezer. I looked this morning and noticed two breaded chicken portions say 'DO NOT REFREEZE' on them. Not sure whether I should throw them away (I hate waste) or maybe cook them for DH or myself. What would you do?

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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 04 July 2012 - 01:10
I would feed it to DH :D only joking (well I think I am :D) [b'>[b'>wish we had a "like" button[/b'>[/b'> Like like..
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 03 July 2012 - 08:53
Frozen meat is similarly processed from freshly slaughtered animals or poultry. The meat, which is in peak condition and freshness, is preserved by rapid freezing to colder than -18°C and is then stored and distributed in this frozen form. (copied quote) Freezing stops bacterial growth. The complex chemical changes that cause deterioration of the meat, such as rancidity, are also slowed down considerably. Freezing meat can therefore preserve the meat in good condition and retain its wholesomeness and quality for long periods ranging from 6 months to a year depending on the kinds of meat. Upon thawing, the quality of the meat should be as acceptable to the consumer as the fresh product. Before I realized that the some of the chicken breasts I bought here were thawed, I tossed them in the freezer. Did this for about 4 years until someone pointed it out to me that it was not fresh but thawed and not to be refrozen. My husband and I are still here to tell the tail :) <em>edited by SueB on 03/07/2012</em>
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 03 July 2012 - 08:41
Having had many cases of REALLY bad food poisoning in my life, I would now forfeit any food that may be dodgy. Re-freezing chicken is the biggest no-no to me, I just wouldn't take the chance……call me a chicken.
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 16:44
Also I want to know what October's DH has done that she wants to feed him dodgy chicken ;)
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EW GURU
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 16:34
as long as it's cooked thoroughly it should be fine...i'd eat it..
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 16:33
common myth? thats the French variety of a local moth
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 16:30
Also a common myth is that food poisoning is from the last thing you ate. It can actually take a week or more to show up, depending on what the problem is. So when people front up a few hours after lunch blaming the plane food, in most cases it's what they ate in the last few days. I never knew this til I did a food safety course, I always thought food poisoning came on within 12 hours or so. (Of course in some cases it does, but not always)
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 16:29
Pretty sure the food has to be in the 'unsafe' temp zone (google, it has a pic) that's when the bugs multiply the fastest. if food is kept cold or hot enough and is cooked well then it should kill off anything in there anyway. this is why we're not allowed to let you eat after everyone else on the plane unless we can heat a still cold meal first time. No reheating from cold I'm sure stuff I've had has had bugs in it but cooking it really, really well seems to work. Also the smell test. If it smells iffy, I bin it. If it smells ok, but I'm not sure, I cook it, and see what smell it gives off while cooking. I had chicken once that seemed fine but as I cooked it my stomach told me something wasn't right. Binned it. Never gone wrong with it. Same with the milk- since the date range is so short here I go by taste/smell within 3 days of the expiry and it's been fine. Longer than that, or if it's been out of the fridge, I'll chuck it.
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 16:22
Already been cooked and eaten :) No problem so far.
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 16:16
Def don't throw it out, if you only just bought it then simply thaw it and cook it inthe next few days. Freezing it/refreezing it doesn't suddenly make it poisonous, the only danger would be freezing it and waiting a month or more before using it which would give bacteria a chance to have grown (and tbh, thats a small risk anyway, but that is why they advise not freezing things twice). It won't even be past the use-by date yet, there is no extra risk if you use it now compared to if it had been in the fridge during that time.
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 15:17
If it smells / looks OK I'd cook it. You can't get salmonella from chicken unless it's infected with it in the first place by the way. I agree with ChuckyDucky and CBinDubai....people get far too obessive about this sort of stuff!! It was interesting that I bought the chicken at a really reputable wholefoods-semi organic eatery in the UK and so when I got sick I contacted them and they said that they hadnt had any other complaints.It seems that during the time I picked it up and took it home, left it for an hour and then ate it, the salmonella bug got going. I wonder how it works? If the bug is present in many foods and simply doesnt grow unless the conditions are right, and if there are such things as 'dormant' salmonella bugs which are ok to eat? I have no idea I couldnt smell or eat chicken for weeks afterwards without heaving
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EW GURU
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 15:05
if no smell , cook them well done and enjoy ,
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 14:27
If it smells / looks OK I'd cook it. You can't get salmonella from chicken unless it's infected with it in the first place by the way. I agree with ChuckyDucky and CBinDubai....people get far too obessive about this sort of stuff!!
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 13:31
See if it smells funny - if it smells OK, I would eat it, just cook it really really thoroughly. Agree with some other posters about food waste altho have to say I do get random bouts of upset tummy here but not sure what it's from. Food poisoning is the worst - crab from one of the seafood restaurants had me laid up for days.... :( I'm the same re upset tummys here - but DH has a cast-iron stomach, which is why he'd be the taste tester not me ;)
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 13:28
I wonder sometimes whether it is the chicken that has been cooked badly, or left to stand too long, or cooked and reheated badly etc which is the one we get sick from? Ive never heard of a case of anyone getting sick from re-freezing good chicken. But Im sure there are reasons. Anyway, serious chicken poisoning is very serious and can shut your vital organs down and ... eek. I had it once quite recently (bought a take-away and then left it a bit and then at it) and I can honestly say I have never been sicker in my life!! I wanted to die.... seriously ..... it was **** for 2 days. So I am so wary now of the cooked variety which I havent cooked myself, and since I dont eat any red meat am considering cutting chicken out too. With proper preparation you should be fine with those but cook them well and eat immediately. edited by hilsbils on 01/07/2012 edited by hilsbils on 01/07/2012 Hilsbils, I'm not sure about the refreezing thing either. I mean if it's cooked thoroughly should be OK no? Mind you, you never know how it's handled in the shops prior to buying. All the cases in the newspapers lately of death by food poisoning, they have always been due to eating chicken, some with rice. Could it be they left it out on the table and then reheated it? If it was beef, lamb I wouldn't give it a second thought. The doctor I saw said Chicken poisoning is the worst and causes most of the salmonella deaths ...eek! But I was naughty cos I was in a fierce rush packing whilst eating (before a FLIGHT) and remember a small voice asking me if the chicken was ok, and it smelled funny, tasted great and viola! But chicken which looks and smells ok seems fine These days I buy the local chickens as they havent had to travel very far to get into a shop freezer, and according to an old thread here, they are small because they have no growth hormones pumped into them.
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 13:19
CB, I agree when we were students we ate anything (but it was in cooler climes for me anyway). I have refrozen chicken, and cooked it and have been fine, but this one has DO NOT REFREEZE in large lettering on the front (daft me for not looking in first place) and it is getting on for 50C outside. Hmmm what to do.. bin or DH ;) DH for the first piece, see what happens and then you can decide whether to bin the other piece! You are right, just did a sniff test and smells OK, looks firm and succulent. Surely gotta be fine. Will cook it and give it to DH.
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 13:17
I wonder sometimes whether it is the chicken that has been cooked badly, or left to stand too long, or cooked and reheated badly etc which is the one we get sick from? Ive never heard of a case of anyone getting sick from re-freezing good chicken. But Im sure there are reasons. Anyway, serious chicken poisoning is very serious and can shut your vital organs down and ... eek. I had it once quite recently (bought a take-away and then left it a bit and then at it) and I can honestly say I have never been sicker in my life!! I wanted to die.... seriously ..... it was **** for 2 days. So I am so wary now of the cooked variety which I havent cooked myself, and since I dont eat any red meat am considering cutting chicken out too. With proper preparation you should be fine with those but cook them well and eat immediately. edited by hilsbils on 01/07/2012 edited by hilsbils on 01/07/2012 Hilsbils, I'm not sure about the refreezing thing either. I mean if it's cooked thoroughly should be OK no? Mind you, you never know how it's handled in the shops prior to buying. All the cases in the newspapers lately of death by food poisoning, they have always been due to eating chicken, some with rice. Could it be they left it out on the table and then reheated it? If it was beef, lamb I wouldn't give it a second thought.
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 13:11
CB, I agree when we were students we ate anything (but it was in cooler climes for me anyway). I have refrozen chicken, and cooked it and have been fine, but this one has DO NOT REFREEZE in large lettering on the front (daft me for not looking in first place) and it is getting on for 50C outside. Hmmm what to do.. bin or DH ;) DH for the first piece, see what happens and then you can decide whether to bin the other piece!
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 13:07
CB, I agree when we were students we ate anything (but it was in cooler climes for me anyway). I have refrozen chicken, and cooked it and have been fine, but this one has DO NOT REFREEZE in large lettering on the front (daft me for not looking in first place) and it is getting on for 50C outside. Hmmm what to do.. bin or DH ;)
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 13:06
I would feed it to DH :D only joking (well I think I am :D) wish we had a "like" button
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 13:06
I wonder sometimes whether it is the chicken that has been cooked badly, or left to stand too long, or cooked and reheated badly etc which is the one we get sick from? Ive never heard of a case of anyone getting sick from re-freezing good chicken. But Im sure there are reasons. Anyway, serious chicken poisoning is very serious and can shut your vital organs down and ... eek. I had it once quite recently (bought a take-away and then left it a bit and then at it) and I can honestly say I have never been sicker in my life!! I wanted to die.... seriously ..... it was **** for 2 days. So I am so wary now of the cooked variety which I havent cooked myself, and since I dont eat any red meat am considering cutting chicken out too. With proper preparation you should be fine with those but cook them well and eat immediately. edited by hilsbils on 01/07/2012 <em>edited by hilsbils on 01/07/2012</em>
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 12:53
I would feed it to DH :D only joking (well I think I am :D)
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 12:50
I had a friend who always froze chicken despite it saying not to. She ate it for 2 years and never had a problem, I wouldn't because I would make myself ill just thinkingit was off....
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 12:31
Oh just eat it. You'll be fine. Don't eat it if you're pregnant and don't let young children or very old people eat it, but if you're healthy and don't suffer from digestive ailments then it's REALLY not going to do anything bad to you. People are way too panicky about food.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 12:30
Eat it!!! All these neurotiscm about food is why we now have superbugs! As a student I drank out of date milk, undercooked chicken and froze, defrosted and then refroze already cooked food. I couldn't afford to chuck stuff out and as a result I have the best constitution of anyone I know - and it is extremely rare for me to have any kind of tummy trouble. Food companies are super careful with their labeling so they cannot be held accountable - which means milk is dated long before it is bad etc etc. This leads to massive waste by the neurotic public (which in turn leads to more profit for the food companies). Yes I know, food poisoning can be serious - but it would just be nice if people applied some common sense instead of blindy following sell-by dates (and invariably not actually understanding the definitions). Let's think of all those starving children in Africa!
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 12:26
I would throw it away! I always check to see if I can freeze it. Won't buy any meat from the fridge in C4 again anyway. Bought what I thought was a nice bit of lamb put it straight in the fridge, next day took it out and it was green :( it said fresh on the label!
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 12:12
I think most of the chicken here is no refreezable. The ropey looking fresh chicken in Spinneys is fresh and freezable, but the nice looking pumped up ones aren't. If I am freezing it I always buy the fresh breast loose chicken at C4. I personally wouldn't eat it now.
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 12:07
I would throw them away. Its not worth being ill, and there is no way that I would enjoy eating them knowing that.
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 01 July 2012 - 12:06
Throw them away....
 
 

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