The last thing you want to do when making dinner is serve ribs that look or smell bad. Nor do you want to dish up bad pork chops that could cause people to fall sick. Fortunately, there are some pretty clear tip-offs when your pork is spoiled.
Find out the most common ways to tell if your pork has gone bad and what you need to know to stay safe around food.
When you purchase meat, youll typically see a sell-by date listed on the packaging. MSU says that stores use this date to figure out when to take food off the shelves and throw it away.
If you buy pork, the USDA says you should use or freeze it within 3 to 5 days of the sell-by date.
There may be more than one date on the package. There is a sell-by date and a use-by date. The use-by date tells you when to eat (or freeze) the food, according to Michigan State University. The expiration date is the date after which you should throw it away.
This is why Catie Beauchamp, PhD, vice president of food science, quality, and safety at ButcherBox, always tells people to check the use-by date on ready-to-eat foods like deli ham: “Sometimes you can’t tell when something is going bad with your senses.”
Pork is a popular meat that’s a tasty addition to many dishes. However, like any perishable food, pork can spoil if not handled and stored properly. But what exactly does spoiled pork taste like? How can you confidently detect when pork has gone bad?
As a home cook and food safety advocate, I often get questions from readers about identifying spoiled pork. Understandably, people want to avoid accidentally eating bad meat. Consuming spoiled pork can cause foodborne illnesses like salmonella and trichinosis.
In this article I’ll draw on my experience cooking pork to explain the distinct taste and smell of bad pork. My goal is to equip home cooks with the knowledge to determine when raw and cooked pork has gone bad so you can keep yourself and your family safe.
How to Tell If Raw Pork Has Gone Bad
According to food safety experts, there are a few clear signs that indicate raw pork has spoiled and should be discarded:
-
Unpleasant sour or rancid smell – Fresh raw pork should have a relatively mild odor. Spoiled pork gives off a distinct sour, offensive smell. If you open a package of raw pork and detect a strong, unpleasant odor, that’s a sign it has gone bad.
-
Slimy texture – Good quality raw pork should feel firm to the touch. A slippery, slimy texture indicates spoilage.
-
Discolored (grey, green, or dark) – Fresh raw pork is light pink in color. Off-coloring like grey, green patches or darkening is a red flag for spoiled meat.
-
Expired date labels – Check the sell-by and use-by dates on packages, Use fresh pork within 3-5 days of purchasing it
-
Puffy, bloated packaging – Gas produced by spoilage bacteria puffs up the packaging.
What Does Spoiled Raw Pork Taste Like?
While smell and appearance can indicate spoiled pork, tasting raw pork is an even more definite way to identify if it has gone bad. However, you should only taste raw pork if it passes the sight and smell tests.
Spoiled raw pork tends to taste sour, bitter, and acidic. The flavors are amplified versions of the foul aromas. Beyond straight-up sourness, the taste may have these undertones:
- Putrid, rotten, rancid
- Off-flavors
- Tangy or sharp (from increased acidity)
The unpleasant sour taste comes from increased microbial growth breaking down proteins into tangy-tasting amino acids. It’s an alarming taste you’ll want to spit out immediately!
How Does Cooked Rotten Pork Taste?
Cooking spoiled raw pork makes the undesirable flavors and odors even more intense and noticeable. The high heat draws out even more of the disgusting taste. Consuming cooked rotten pork can make you extremely sick.
Here’s what to expect from the revolting taste of cooked pork gone bad:
- Powerful sour, sharp tang
- Rotten, putrid flavor
- Extremely unpleasant aftertaste
Cooking methods like grilling, frying, and baking will all amplify the offensive taste and smell of spoiled pork. If you detect a bad smell when cooking pork, throw it out right away before tasting it.
Can You Detect Spoiled Pork Mixed Into Other Foods?
You may wonder if you’d notice foul pork mixed into complex dishes like casseroles, soups, tacos or stir fries. Unfortunately, strong spices and seasonings can potentially mask small amounts of bad pork. However, the meat could still contain dangerous pathogens that cause food poisoning. It’s crucial to be vigilant about fully cooking pork and checking for signs of spoilage before adding it to foods.
How Soon After Eating Bad Pork Do You Get Sick?
Consuming pork that’s gone bad puts you at risk for foodborne illness, Symptoms don’t always appear immediately but may start anywhere from a few hours to a few days later
Potential food poisoning symptoms from rotten pork include:
- Nausea, vomiting
- Abdominal cramps, diarrhea
- Fever, chills
- Headaches
Seek medical help if you experience these symptoms after eating questionable pork. Foodborne illness can be serious for pregnant women, children, older adults, and those with weakened immune systems.
Can Pork That Smells Bad But Isn’t Expired Make You Sick?
With raw vacuum-packed pork, a sulfur or eggy odor can develop due to reactions between meat juices and packaging gases. This alone doesn’t necessarily mean it’s spoiled. Try rinsing off the pork and sniffing it again. If the odor disappears, the pork should be safe to eat if fully cooked.
However, if the off smell persists after rinsing, it’s best to discard the pork. Toxins or bacteria could be present even if the meat looks okay otherwise. Don’t take chances with pork that smells questionable.
How to Prevent Pork from Spoiling Prematurely
Now that you know how to identify bad pork, here are some tips to store it properly and prevent spoilage:
- Refrigerate pork right away at 40°F or below.
- Freeze pork you won’t use within 3-5 days. It stays safe frozen for 4-12 months.
- Thaw frozen pork safely in the fridge, cold water, or microwave. Never leave it out at room temperature.
- Cook pork thoroughly to an internal temperature of at least 145°F to kill harmful bacteria.
- When in doubt, throw it out! Don’t risk eating pork that smells or looks questionable.
The Takeaway on Detecting Spoiled Pork
Remember, dangerous bacteria can multiply quickly on pork when it’s mishandled. Always use your senses of smell, sight, and touch to check for signs of spoilage. Follow safe storage, thawing, and cooking guidelines. Taking these simple precautions will keep pork from going bad prematurely and protect your health. Trust your instincts – if pork seems at all off, play it safe and throw it out.
It Has Slime
As you might imagine, slime isnt a good sign when it comes to food.
According to Beauchamp, the best way to tell if pork or any other protein has gone bad is if it has a slime-like film on top. If you spot this — say, on a package of deli ham — throw it out.
Along with slime, a dry or sticky texture is also a bad sign, says Toby Amidor, RD, CDN, food safety expert and best-selling cookbook author.
Its Packaging Is Puffy
Beauchamp says that if the pork bags are puffy, it means the pork has gone bad and you should throw it away. This occurs when the bacteria in the meat multiply and produce gases, which causes the packaging to bloat.
How To Tell If Pork Has Gone Bad
FAQ
Can you taste spoiled pork?
How do you know if pork has gone bad?
What happens when you eat spoiled pork?
What is the bad taste in pork?
What does spoiled pork smell like?
Spoiled pork emits a sour odor, similar to ammonia which, over time, keeps getting worse. It is worth noting that certain types of packaging may also cause the pork to smell a bit odd, and it is important to know how to distinguish this odor from the one associated with spoiled pork.
Why is pork not recommended to eat?
This is not true, some cuts like sirloin and pork rump steak, for example, are very healthy, even healthier than beef and chicken. Only the fattest cuts like bacon and crackling should be avoided.
How do you know if pork is spoiled?
“You want to look for fresh pork that is light pink in color and has firm, white fat,” Amidor says. An excessively dark color with soft or rancid fat is a sign that it might be spoiled. But color isn’t always a decisive factor, Beauchamp points. “While color may be an indicator of spoilage it doesn’t always mean a product is spoiled,” she says.
What does bad pork taste like?
Spoiled pork may have a sour smell, slimy texture, and grey or green coloring. If you notice any of these signs, it’s best to discard the pork immediately. Cooking bad pork will not make it safe. It will increase the unpleasant smell and taste of it and make you sick. What Happens If You Eat Bad Pork?