Garlic Sausage thawed in the fridge, and forgot about for a week, still good?

Since it hasn't reached its expiration date, and assuming it was properly stored before being thawed, I would say it's fine.

Just do a sniff test to be safe.

Definitely give it the sniff test first. 2-3 days is a little aggressive, but 7 days is definitely borderline. Food poisoning isn't a nice experience.

Look at the sodium content. Those things have enough sodium that think they could have crossed the Atlantic on the mayflower and still be ok.

I'd toss it. No need to take any chances.

williams969 wrote: »

It's likely still good. I'm assuming it's still in the original packaging, uncooked? If so, expiry date still applies. I'd eat it without a second thought.

Now, the 2-3 days after thaw rule applies more to items that you have previously cooked, froze, then thawed to reheat.

What she said!

Sealed in factory packaging does not mean the sausage is sterile. Good chance enough things are growing in that sausage after a week that will at best make it taste off, and at worst make you sick.

Please do not rely on the sniff test or the eyeball test. I promise you that there is plenty of spoiled food out there that will not smell or look off.

glevinso wrote: »

I would personally use a sniff test. Things don't go bad in the freezer, even if there is an expiration date. Now that it's been sitting in the fridge a while I would certainly sniff it to see if it smells like it's "off" or rancidified... But other than that I wouldn't put much stock in an expiration date when it's been in a freezer.

In this case, the expiration date is meaningless, and I'm sure the sausage was fine when it came out of the freezer. But it is incorrect to say nothing ever goes bad in the freezer. Some bacteria, including E. coli, can still grow at home freezer temps, it's just very, very, very slow and almost never a problem in real life.