I See, You See, We See

I was reading some of the "news" articles at Yahoo and came across this "supermarket guru article" on how to tell when meat is old and more. He has a lot of GREAT advice on how to avoid being tricked by the super sneaky markets. The only problem is, most of the stuff he said was wrong. Who declared this guy a supermarket expert? Someone needs to take that title back and give it to me! I'll show you some of the tips from the "expert" and then I'll show you what really to do in the supermarket. That's fair right?

"First, shop on Wednesdays as this is the typical day that grocery stores host their sales."

       What is the difference between the first day of the sale and the 3rd day of the sale? Nothing. Check your local supermarkets sale ad before you go to the store and circle what you really need. Often times people buy anything that's on sale even if they don't need it. Don't underestimate the power of the little bright sticker declaring what a great deal it is, you can put an "on sale" sticker on a piece of crap and someone will buy it. Look online for the sale ad.

 "I want you to head to the center of the store where it's got unemotional boxes and jars and cans and so on. And frankly, from a food safety standpoint, that's what you want to put in your cart first anyway."

At all costs try to avoid the center aisles. It is true that it is safer to get the perishable products last but just use common sense and you'll be fine. Don't buy ice cream and chicken and walk around the store for another hour. The center aisles are home to the most unhealthiest processed foods. There are some things we need in the center but try to focus your shopping on the outer skirts of the store. The best bet is to bring a list so you can strategically shop the store in the most efficient manner without being distracted buy impulse buys.

"And those food markdowns that look like deals of the century? If the purchase date is too close to the expiration date, walk on by -- especially when it comes to packaged meat."

       This is probably the safest route to avoid getting sick from eating some bad food. Although, there are times when fresh departments simply have an over stocked item that is close to going past the purchase date and the store will mark it down to get rid of it. Most supermarkets offer "guarantees", so it's really a win win situation, if the product looks good, smells good and taste good...Then you just made a great buy but if it's even a little off, take it back, or pay the premium and there's no stress.

"Underneath the meat is something called a "bladder" and it's used to absorb the moisture from the meat or seafood. Excess juice means that it's likely old and should not be purchased. "If in fact the meat has been sitting in the case for a while," Lempert explains,"this is going to absorb any extra moisture so when you pick up the package you don't see those juices flowing. What I always do is I'll actually press down on the meat or the chicken first, and when I press it down, if there are excess juices, it'll come out."

Yes, the "bladder" is intended to soak up the extra "juices". Excess "juice" does not mean it is old. Within hours of being cut the package can be "bloody" and be leaking every where. Most meat departments will change the "bladder" each day until it stops leaking, so in reality no excess juice could mean it is old. Here is a warning if meat is old; green spots, dark spots usually mean something was sitting on top of it but green means bad. If it smells odd or weird it's probably bad. Check the date, if there is only one day left; cook it right away or freeze it. Find out how many days the store gives each package to sell, find the ones that have the maximum amount of days still left on the life of the package. Also, don't judge how red the meat is as an indicator of freshness. The hue of red always varies and it's not a reliable indicator as checking the date, spots and smell.