Why can chicken be just fine going through packaging, delivery, and sitting on the shelves but after buying it from the store you have to use it in a few days before it goes “bad”?

Question

Why can chicken be just fine going through packaging, delivery, and sitting on the shelves but after buying it from the store you have to use it in a few days before it goes “bad”?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Refrigerated grocery store meat doesn’t stay at refrigerated temps from when you put it in your car to when it goes in your fridge. You can mitigate this by buying meat last. I’ve got a 20 minute drive from the grocery store to my house, so I generally try to put a couple frozen items in with the meat.