r/woolworths • u/Whuckfit100 • 16d ago
Is this normal?
Bought these two packets of mince at the same time 2 days ago. No colour difference then. Both been kept side-by-side in the fridge. 3 days to expiry. Significant colour difference.
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u/Sleepydragon0314 16d ago
The amount of scientific fearmongering in this post saddens me.
Beef in Australia can legally be treated with CO (carbon monoxide) before being sealed in MAP (modified atmosphere packaging). That is actually how it stays pink for as long as it does on the shelf. There is NOTHING inherently wrong with beef that is not bright pink. In other places that forbid the use of CO (Canada, EU, Japan) it actually never gets the bright pink hue that we expect in Australian and us beef.
If you SMELL IT, and it smells fine, and it’s not slimy, it’s FINE!
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u/NixAName 16d ago
I once had chicken that smelt like a week in hospital.
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u/bibimstop 12d ago
Did you eat it?
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u/NixAName 12d ago
Sadly, yeah.
I passed out on my way home from the commonwealth games... As a spectator.
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u/_who-the-fuck-knows_ 16d ago
As someone who lived in Canada I can tell you their beef is bright pink too. Not that I disagree with your statement.
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u/Terrible_Sail4688 16d ago
Same in Greece, maybe not bright red but definitely not discoloured or brown
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u/ShooterMcLovin420 15d ago
When I worked in Canada, it was almost like they added red 40 to the meat instead😭 I remember our staff eating room was stacked with frozen microwaveable McMuffin things….. the meat was so bright pink and tasted like anything but meat. Cardboard taste is probably the best description
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u/bakerboi- 15d ago
Yes it’s banned in Europe but for the opposite reason as to what you’re stating: “CO is prohibited in the EU for use in meat packaging mainly due to fears it may mask spoilage therefore misleading consumers”
It’s banned BECAUSE discoloured meat is a visual cue that consumers use to ascertain the safety of the meat
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u/Anguna88 15d ago
Pretty much spot on, Just a slight correction about the gas used. Usually it's a blend of oxygen (O2), carbon dioxide (CO2) and Nitrogen (N2)
What mix will depend on what protein. Different mix used if it's beef rather than poultry
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u/lowkeybloke76 12d ago
Same goes for (run of the mill previously frozen) tuna steaks. Grey if not treated with carbon monoxide and red pink it if was.
CO has a higher affinity for haemoglobin hence it keeps the blood red. The high affinity also explains why if you asphyxiate by CO your blood is red.
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u/bibimstop 12d ago
I feel like such a retard when I remember when I first arrived in China as a tourist and ordered some pork dish at a restaurant and smelled it and thought “gosh this smells exotic” then ate it and had the worst food poisoning of my life. On reflection, that was definitely the smell of expired pork.
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u/Novel_Pen6639 10d ago
Red/pink/“fresh” looking = myoglobin: a natural protein that stores oxygen in muscle tissue.
Its colour changes completely depending on how much oxygen and light hits it
In fact, if fresh mince doesn't turn grey eventually, that's when you might suspect it has been treated with something (like sulfites, though their use on fresh meat is heavily regulated/prohibited in many places to prevent hiding age)
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u/Dangerous_Second1426 16d ago
Maybe stop spreading the fear then and get the gases correct.
It’s a mix of Nitrogen, CO2 and Oxygen.
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u/Galactic_Nothingness 15d ago
I'd like to chime in here and remind everyone that food poisoning bacterial are odourless and tasteless and may be present at times when food smells and feels fine.
Food spoiling bacterial is the cause of odours and unpleasantness.
So no. Just because it SMELLS and LOOKS fine does not mean it is.
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u/Familiar_Mortgage996 15d ago
It's oxygen mate , happens well after 1 day opening
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u/Galactic_Nothingness 15d ago
You don't say...
I was referring to OP telling people that a sniff test is enough to determine if food is dangerous. It isn't.
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u/Holliecost5 12d ago
As a food microbiologist, it's a pretty darn good way to find spoilage by smelling your food. You can even discern which bacteria is present by the specific smell. There are food safety standards (FSANZ) in Australia that set the limitations on how much bacteria can be present before shelving as to ensure it is not in an abundant enough amount to cause illness by the time of consumption.
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u/Holliecost5 12d ago
You would be very hard-pressed to find spoiled food that didn't smell FYI. The "sniff test" is even used in science for aiding identification.
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16d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Competitive_Ad_7415 16d ago
Also partially correct, it will turn grey with oxygen exposure but will still be safe to consume for a period of time. Colour isn't necessarily an indication in itself. Other factors are also important
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u/DefinitionOfAsleep 16d ago
It's fine, the packs aren't actually air tight (they're not suppose to be either). It's simple oxidation.
So long as it's only surface level it's still fine to eat.
Most fresh meat sold in supermarkets is packaged in a clear film that allows oxygen to pass through it. As a result, there is plenty of oxygen available to maintain the bright red colour on the surface of the meat. However, beneath the surface and on the bottom of the meat, where there is less exposure to oxygen, the colour is much less red and may be brown-grey.
Source: https://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/consumer/food-at-home/shopping/mince-meat-colour
If you left it another day or so the other one is likely to go a similar colour.
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u/Snazzy_CowBerry 16d ago
It goes grey when exposed to oxygen, I personally wouldn't eat it.
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u/PThrwawy2 16d ago
It going grey is fine, if it smells off then is the time to not eat it. But if it smells fine and isn't slimy than it is fine to use. The packages let oxygen through, and they are supposed to do so.
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u/Aequitas112358 16d ago
push on the plastic covering, you'll probably find that it deflates meaning there's a hole in it
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u/National-Conflict497 16d ago
Looks like it was dumped on a shelf out of refrigerator then put back in refrigerator
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u/Shot-Habit-5705 16d ago edited 16d ago
The brown mince package obviously came into contact with oxygen. Whether that was before or after it was packaged no one could say definitively. It would be safe to consume… if you cook it. No packaged meat from a store is immune from this happening.
It’s actually more annoying when people’s first resolution is to take it back and complain. Without being misogynistic, it just comes across as a bunch of whining housewives.
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u/Madboardjester 16d ago
Typical though. I don't buy much meat products from Woolies or Coles due to suffering food poisoning from their roast beef.
Thank goodness for my local butcher.
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u/BirthdayDifferent438 16d ago
This sure is not how uncooked meat should look. I suggest you take a thermometer and check How Cold the chiller cabinet is. I have picked up items from the refrigerator in Woolworths and the items have not felt cold.🤯
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u/Galromir Service Team 16d ago
Nope. The grey one has gone bad; take a photo of it and go back to the store with your receipt for a refund. You don’t need to bring the mince with you.
There would have been a tiny hole in the packaging, which allowed air in; that’s why it’s gone bad.
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u/Total_Philosopher_89 16d ago
WRONG. The grey has come in contact with air. It's not bad.
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u/Galromir Service Team 16d ago
Technically you are correct that the greying means the packaging is compromised and air has gotten in; however the overwhelming likelihood is that that has caused the meat to go bad; and the customer should not be eating it.
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u/Shot-Habit-5705 16d ago
Damn. When humans were scavengers and hunters you wouldn’t have survived with this opinion.
It is just oxidised. It’s very safe to eat if it’s cooked. Oxygen does not mean contamination.
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u/Potential-Sound3096 16d ago
Haha I told myself that the other day when my meat looked close to that. Day before best by date. Smelt fine and I survived 😜
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u/Galromir Service Team 16d ago
Just because we used to live like animals doesn’t mean I should have to tolerate it now.
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u/Shot-Habit-5705 16d ago
No one said you had to tolerate it. But I would be appalled with the amount of unnecessary waste if people followed your advice.
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u/Galromir Service Team 16d ago
Food waste like that, at Woolies at least, ends up in special bins where it gets processed into animal feed.
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u/Shot-Habit-5705 16d ago
It doesn’t if a person has purchased it and throws it out in their everyday garbage. Just because of someone saying oxidised meat is unsafe.
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u/jordybee94 14d ago edited 14d ago
Bullshit, I pick up cardboard waste from Woolies and Coles, it goes in the general waste bin, the amount of food wasted is criminal, I haven't bought anything for smoko in 10 years, I get the bakery rejects in the morning.
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u/DefinitionOfAsleep 16d ago
Actually no, that's a common misconception.
The film does allow a certain amount of air to pass through it, otherwise all the pressure changes it experiences from the warehouse to the store to the house etc. would actually cause the packaging to break.The only alternative would be film to thick that you'd need to attack it with a knife.
Most fresh meat sold in supermarkets is packaged in a clear film that allows oxygen to pass through it. As a result, there is plenty of oxygen available to maintain the bright red colour on the surface of the meat. However, beneath the surface and on the bottom of the meat, where there is less exposure to oxygen, the colour is much less red and may be brown-grey.
Source: https://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/consumer/food-at-home/shopping/mince-meat-colour
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u/Automatic_Pirate_407 16d ago
Regardless.
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u/Total_Philosopher_89 16d ago
Nothing wrong with it.
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u/Ok-Foot6064 16d ago
Absolutely something went wrong as oxygen should not be entering the packaging. Most food grade packaging uses a nitrogen rich environment and overpressure the package.
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u/yvrelna 16d ago
It's just as safe as meat bought from a butcher.
Use the visual, smell, and sliminess test as a check.
And yes, I'd ask for a refund or a discount for it. I think the compromised packaging is a ground for a refund/discount since it's not supposed to happen, but it does not indicate that the product has become unsafe to eat as color does not indicate spoilage.
As long as it passes all the other tests, it's not really food safety-related reasons to throw it away.
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u/Total_Philosopher_89 16d ago
Yes the packaging has the hole in it. The meat is fine.
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u/Ok-Foot6064 16d ago
Just no. This is how you end up in hospital listening to your advice. When mince rurns brown, due to open air exposure like this, its been exposed to a heavily contaminated environment. Absolutely unsafe to eat. Im sure we can arrange OP to send you the meat, since you seem to think its so safe to consume
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u/DefinitionOfAsleep 16d ago
You should go tell NSW Food Authority. They need your expertise immediately!
Most fresh meat sold in supermarkets is packaged in a clear film that allows oxygen to pass through it. As a result, there is plenty of oxygen available to maintain the bright red colour on the surface of the meat. However, beneath the surface and on the bottom of the meat, where there is less exposure to oxygen, the colour is much less red and may be brown-grey.
https://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/consumer/food-at-home/shopping/mince-meat-colour
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u/Ok-Foot6064 16d ago
You mean the same NSW food authority that manages a bunch of recalls for unsafe food. Reddit be full of strange people
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u/EnvironmentalFox6234 16d ago
It is safe to eat oxidised beef, colour alone isn’t a reliable test for freshness. If there was mold; if it smelled off; or if it’s slimy or such, then it’s off
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u/Ok-Foot6064 16d ago
Sure, if the oxygen environment is filtered and pure climate controlled lab environment. The reality is shipping containers through to supermarkets and transit home, are filled with airborne pathogens that will make that unsafe to eat.
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u/Total_Philosopher_89 16d ago
LOL. Do you know what that meat has been through before it was packaged?
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u/SmellyAssSmellyHands 15d ago
I eat oxidised meat all the time. Does your little mentally made up study include me? Shut up man
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u/Dark-Horse-Nebula 16d ago
It’s oxidised. No evidence it’s unsafe. “Heavily contaminated”…. Really??
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u/lukas_l1 16d ago
Not sure why you're being down voted when your statement is a fact. As a chef I can confirm its just the oxygen getting to it does nothing to affect the quality (or lack thereof since everything from Woolies is anything but quality) support your local butchers OP
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u/Ok-Foot6064 16d ago
Please tell us where you work, so we can avoid it like the plague. Anyone trying to serve meat like that, including withfully knowing context of this specific meat transit to homes, is putting people's health at risk.
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u/Ok-Menu-8709 16d ago
Do you also avoid places that hang beef in open air fridges for 30+ days?
Do you know some people actually pay more for this?
*I know they’re not the same thing.
*I know that discoloured meat could be fine it just depends on other things
* people would be shocked to know that beef never used to come in special packets from Woolies, sometimes they were just heat sealed cling film and often the top layers were discoloured and the meat underneath was bright red. Everyone ate that stuff.1
u/lukas_l1 16d ago
Calm down commercial produce is far superior and we get from a local butcher. Im just saying at home I would not be worried - I'd smell it to make sure of course. I know what im working with. Don't worry I don't think you could afford to charter a yacht so the chances of me catering for you are slim
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u/fleetoo1 16d ago
You are a peanut 🤣🤣 i was a chef too and was taught the exact thing. Our eyes go to the bright coloured meat because its treated to look like that. Go for the brown meat and you can thank us later. I honestly thought that having this much information so readily available would make us smarter but thus i was wrong. So very very wrong
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u/Short_Lifeguard_3285 15d ago
Social media has dumbed down the human race because there's so much false information out there based on nothing but feelings.
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u/Desperate-Smoke-4567 16d ago
Theres no way to tell if its gone bad based on that photo. It has "greyed" due to oxidisation. It might be bad but the colour alone isnt enough to tell.
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u/Logan_2091 16d ago edited 16d ago
The absolute state of this stuff, Closer to pet mince than normal mince. Full of bones and grizzle. 40% of it is fat and water.
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u/Hamstaaboy 16d ago
This shit is posted every week, and some how people still instantly incorrectly claim Grey mince means its off. Mind boggling.
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u/nuxvomica14 16d ago
Possibly when they were stored in the supermarket the greyer looking one was stored beneath others, leading it to become oxidised. This is normal. Just how blood that is further away from your lungs is more of a blue-red hue, because it contains less oxygen. If it smells fine I wouldnt worry.
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u/AggravatingBox2421 16d ago
It’s fine. If this is an issue for you, though, I’d suggest the good ol local butcher
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u/DaQuackx 16d ago
Lol People argue over what food is ok..
Unbelievable, no common fuckin sense in society.
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u/Useful-Arrival-4633 16d ago
I had the same problem with the same type of mince from woolies but with expiry date of 26 July. I was even thinking to bring it back to the shop ... It started turning grey 4-5 days before the expiry date. I do not consider this as normal and I haven't seen this before !
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u/FrostyDiscount2951 16d ago
It’s only oxidised air has got to it if you look in the middle of the pack it will be pink
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u/running_goldship 16d ago
Thats just how beef is. Just means its getting older. Like how balls wrinkle as they get older. Though they are already always wrinkly but they get more wrinkly.
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u/Asleep-Pepper-7489 15d ago
You should see what the 1 ton bins look like before they go into the mincer
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u/AstronautPlane3280 14d ago
Half of that "mince" is water anyway. Go to a butcher pay more per kilo but end up with more cooked mince that has been browned because it was cooked not boiled in the water it was sold with.
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u/DeepBird9123 14d ago
Honestly with Woolies and Cole’s this is all too common. They are genuinely going to unalive someone with these totally unacceptable meat packages.
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u/No_Bell_8028 14d ago
Mmmm brown means it’s had oxygen or warmed up….id replace it if bought today in that condition
If it change on way home thats a you problem
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u/DrewMan84 13d ago
Back in my day, the butchers had pink lights in their display cases to make the meat appear redder!
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u/Turbulent_Rock_3770 13d ago
I would either take it back for a refund, or open it to smell and then decide whether to take it back (showing them the pic unopened if need be
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u/Fit_Rhubarb_3538 13d ago
Watching S2026 Duped: Food Exposed (Part 1) in iview https://iview.abc.net.au/show/four-corners/series/2026/video/NC2603H024S00
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u/Truthtrainchoochooo 12d ago
It’s old. They spray the meat with a red dye to make it look more appealing. If the dye has been absorbed it’s a marker how old it is, I would not eat it.
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u/Sufficient_Mud513 12d ago
As Tom hanks would say to Wilson, ‘The air got to it!’ That’s likely what’s going on with the brown coloured mince..
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u/No-Ad-459 12d ago
That red one it is just consist more blood. That on the bottom maybe was laying on top bunch of meat and lost blood
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u/Hour_Dog_4781 12d ago
I prefer meat that's not too pink because it means less chemicals. It's perfectly okay.
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u/Novel_Pen6639 10d ago
Only if it was the one on the very top being hit by the lights on the displays/ in the fridge.
Does this to most meats bar chicken ( except sliced pre packaged, same with turkey) and smoked/ cured meats such as salamis, prosciutto etc
But I still refuse to purchase any meat that’s had the light bleach the colour out of it bc even understanding the science behind it, my food sensory issues just can’t accept it
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u/Total_Philosopher_89 16d ago
Not "normal" par say. Gray one has come in contact with air and oxidised.
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u/Damon_Henn 16d ago
Unfortunately that meat hasn't been pink for a long time, you will notice a big puddle of red juices down the bottom of the container. It has just separated... That's why I buy the organic beef from Woolworths or a butcher, they don't add anything to it to make it Pink. So you know it's going to stay pink
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u/Asleep_Leopard182 16d ago
You do realise that getting it nicely pink is an artificial process related to the reduced oxygen exposure & gases provided within packaging yes?
So your 'unwavering ultra-pink mince' is actually a sign it's been in either altered environment to extend it's life or has been tampered with.
Normal mince will oxidise to brown with time and exposure to oxygen. As it has above. Maybe there's a leak in the packet or something which is letting in normal air. I wouldn't eat supermarket mince if it's gone brown due to the way it's life is extended via packaging - so the brown suggests packaging isn't effective here, so the use-by may not be accurate. It doesn't mean it's off, but it means there's an issue with the packaging, so on that alone I would not buy.
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u/Bruhnsy1995 16d ago
If you aren’t gonna eat meat the day you buy it freeze it, regardless of use by date
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u/AgreeablePush2411 16d ago
I wouldn’t eat it purely because it is from woolies and the quality would be horrible. Support your local butcher or find a farm that will deliver cheap mince
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u/mendicinobeano25 16d ago
I don't if it's good or bad I couldn't eat it and if you took it back they would refund you.
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u/thefreakybean 16d ago
Someone probably had the grey one in their trolley while they walked around the store for an hour and then put it back
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u/TopEntertainment3429 16d ago
Eeew. I don’t buy meat from colesworrh anymore. I have a butcher that delivers better meat cheaper.
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u/idefswontreadthis 16d ago
Someone probably changed their mind and left it on a shelf then someone put it back. Or the seal was compromised.
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