How to Tell If Chicken Has Gone Bad

Chicken can be very dangerous if it goes bad. The worst-case scenario is salmonella, a bacteria that causes serious illness. Salmonella can be killed by cooking your chicken thoroughly. Unfortunately, a number of other bacteria still leave toxins behind after cooking, which means that if your chicken goes bad, you should throw it out. Thankfully, you can spot the signs of bad chicken easily. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Instructions

1

Check the "Do Not Sell" date on the chicken's package before you buy it. It's the easiest and simplest way to confirm whether it should be eaten. While you can still cook chicken after its "Do Not Sell" date, you run more of a risk.

2

Find out how long the chicken was sitting before it was cooked. Chicken should be refrigerated at 40 degrees or below before cooking, and raw chicken should never be kept in the refrigerator for longer than 48 hours. With frozen chicken, you should eat it within six months after freezing. Similarly, leftover cooked chicken should be refrigerated promptly after your meal and you shouldn't wait more than two or three days before eating it.

3

Smell the chicken. An odd odor is a good way to determine its relative freshness. Bad chicken tends to smell sour or have a scent like ammonia, but whatever the scent, there will be very little question about whether it is fit to eat or not.

4

Feel the consistency of the chicken's surface. Bad chicken will have a slimy or unpleasant feeling to it. If the chicken has already been washed, it may have a grayish or yellowish color to it as well.

5

Monitor the chicken's taste when you eat it. Though good-tasting chicken may not be bacteria free, chicken which tastes funny or is "off" is definitely trouble. If it tastes bad, don't swallow it.