eli5 : how come when you thaw out meat you’re not supposed to re-thaw it?

Question

I’m not sure if this is true or not but it’s something I’ve heard when I was younger so I’ve just always taken it as a rule.
Is there a reason why you’re not supposed to re-freeze meat once it’s been thawed out?

In: 18

Answer 1

During the time spent thawing…and then the time spent to re-freeze, and then once again spend all the time to thaw the final time, the meat spends all that time within the temperature danger zone 40°-140° F …..allowing microbial (germ) growth during all three of those multiple hour periods of time. So it increases your odds of getting sick.