SANTA ROSA COUNTY, Fla. — A Milton mother says she was given expired meat at a Santa Rosa County food giveaway.
WEAR News did get some answers from the Feeding the Gulf Coast office about how this happened. We took Heather Courtney’s concerns to them.
Feeding the Gulf Coast walked us through their process and outlined what they do to make sure food is safe. But Courtney still has concerns.
One by one, Courtney unboxed items she and hundreds of others got at the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce food drive on Monday.
Courtney says she did a double-take when she saw the dates on her package of chicken and beef.
“Both of them expired in May,” Courtney said. “I was very shocked, and started crying a little bit because I was like, this isn’t going to help me at all now.”
Courtney had planned to use the meat for Thanksgiving. She said it’s starting to smell and now she plans to throw it out.
The single mother of two, who works three jobs, felt it was time and effort wasted.
“I sat there for two hours and was very excited. I thought I was going to be able to get a few things to make Thanksgiving work. When I got home, I was very surprised to find a meat from May,” Courtney said.
Kyle Schoolar with Feeding the Gulf Coast addressed her concerns.
“We always want to be of help, never a burden, and so food safety is so important to us,” Schoolar said.
Schoolar told WEAR News that the chicken breast and beef stew meat would’ve been frozen immediately, once it was donated.
“If that came in as a retail donation, it was frozen that day, before that best-by-date. It stayed frozen,” Schoolar said.
Dorothy Lee, a family and consumer sciences agent, explained that when the meat is frozen determines how safe it is to eat.
“If it had been frozen and then thawed, yes, it would be. But if it had been left at room temperature for a long period of time after it was frozen and thawed, no,” Lee said.
While Courtney did get a couple of items that weren’t past expiration date, she has lingering concerns.
“I very much appreciate everything they’ve done, and continue to do, I just think maybe some more inspections?” Courtney said.
“I have a sister with a compromised immune system. I worry if I were to invite her over out there, if I didn’t look at it, she could have gotten very sick, and others out there,” Courtney said.
Keep in mind, there are no federal guidelines or rules requiring expiration dates on foods.
Food is not necessarily bad if it’s past its expiration date. If it smells bad, or seems off to you, just don’t eat it.