How to Tell if Beef is Spoiled
Keep yourself and others safe by learning how to tell if beef is spoiled.
Up next in Food Safety & Freshness (34 videos)
Prevent food poisoning and food-borne illnesses with the advice in this Howcast video series.
You Will Need
- Beef
- Observation skills
Steps
-
Step 1
Inspect the beef
Inspect the raw piece of beef. Beef that has spoiled will have a change of color and will have faded or darkened. Fresh meat is purplish in color and will change to a cherry red color when exposed to oxygen. Grey, green, or brown coloring may indicate spoiled beef.
-
The color of beef is also influenced by the age, species, sex, and diet of the animal. Meat from an older animal and exercised muscles may be darker.
-
Step 2
Smell
Smell the beef. Spoiled beef has an off-odor. It may have an ammonia or sulfur smell.
-
Step 3
Touch
Touch the beef. Spoiled beef feels tacky to the touch.
-
Step 4
Inspect cooked beef
Inspect cooked beef. Spoiled cooked beef will be sticky or slimy and have an unpleasant odor.
-
Step 5
Discard
Do not consume spoiled beef; discard it and order in instead!
-
The introduction of cattle cars and refrigerated cars on the railroad made distribution of beef possible.
