DD ate some old lunchmeat-should I be alarmed?

[Linnie The Pooh]

My dd4 ate some lunchmeat that had an expiration date of Dec 30. I think it was ham-that deli kind sliced real thing. Anyway, she'd wanted another sandwich so I'd told her to go get the bread and meat and I"d make it for her. By the time I went to check on her to see why she didn't bring the stuff to make her sandwich, she is lying on the floor watching tv and had eaten almost the whole sandwich. She found this old meat-not the new stuff-and it had already been opened. I smelled the meat and it was kind of strong so I tasted some to see and it tasted all right. Should I be worried?

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

I would watch her for signs of food poisoning..vomiting, diarrhea and fever. Yikes!

TOV

 

[ElizK]

nahhh.... if it were going to make her sick, she'd probably already be feeling it.

 

[Beth76]

I wouldn't worry about it. Just keep a trashcan near her just in case. I think that's the worst that would happen--that she would throw it up.

 

[disneynutt1225]

Other than the "ew" factor, if it was going to affect her it probably would have already started. If she's not vomiting yet, you should be in the clear.

 

[Doctor P]

I wouldn't worry. Contrary to popular belief, spoilage bacteria in general will not make you sick (check on the USDA website or other medical websites if you don't believe me). It is pathogenic bacteria that make you sick, and that generally does not come from food being just too old or "spoiling" when kept properly.

 

[Andrea]

i wouldnt worry about it either

 

[KimR]

DD accidentally ate a Subway sandwich that was a month or 2 old and suffered no ill effects other than extreme gassiness the following day.

 

[OhMari]

I predict she will be puking by midnight.

Sorry, had a mean moment. With all the preservatives and salt in our foods, 20 days old isn't to bad-let us know if anything happens.

 

[DVCLiz]

I agree, there are so many preservatives, especially in ham, that I don't think she'll suffer any ill effects. Now if it had been raw chicken sitting out on your counter since Dec. 30....

 

[MoniqueU]

Note to self, clean out the meat drawer tomorrow.

 

[C.Ann]

Hope she doesn't get a tummy ache..

I had to chuckle though when I saw you were talking about "old ham".. A few years back my granddaughter was trying to explain a really bad odor to me and the only thing she could come up with was, "It smells worse than old ham... " Still to this day we don't know where she smelled this "old ham" but it just cracked us up that she would use that comparison..

 

[Linnie The Pooh]

That's funny C.Ann. The things kids come up with.

Thanks everyone. I can't believe I had that in there. I am usually very vigilant about throwing things out. Unlike my grandma who has all kinds of crap growing in her fridge. I don't even know where DD found it at-I hadn't seen it in there and I'm always in the fridge-and have the waistline to prove it!

 

[DisneyJules]

I ate old chicken when I was a kid. My twin sister ate it aswell and we both got sick, nauseous and throwing up an hour later. I only threw up once, got it out of my system and was fine afterwards.

 

[bunnyfoo]

I wouldn't worry. Contrary to popular belief, spoilage bacteria in general will not make you sick (check on the USDA website or other medical websites if you don't believe me). It is pathogenic bacteria that make you sick, and that generally does not come from food being just too old or "spoiling" when kept properly.

I didn't know that. DBF's mother is always yelling if we don't immediately pack up the fish or meat we made for dinner and throw it in the fridge. I'm not talking about leaving out for hours on end but just the few minutes while we're eating or putting other things away.