Nancy2 wrote:
>
> You're nutz. I wouldn't touch refrigerated chicken after 4 days, let
> alone 8 without. I hope you don't get sick.
>
> Peanut butter and jelly should be fine (I never refrigerate p. butter,
> anyway, and jelly is mostly sugar). Everything else on your list I
> would toss without a second glance. You shouldn't need food science to
> tell you that you shouldn't eat that stuff - it can taste alright and
> smell alright and kill you - as in botulism. No, cooking won't destroy
> all the bad stuff.
>
> N.


I'm fine, no problem at all! But I've tossed everything out except the
peanut butter and jams. I'm not afraid, but ConEd (the local utility
company) is waiving its usual requirement of itemized lists and proofs
of purchase for customer reimbursement of spoiled food, so I guess I'd
feel a bit guilty claiming money while chomping away....

I'm still curious about the science of food spoilage. Just why can't
these germs be killed? Why couldn't any chemical (toxic) changes they
introduce to the food be neutralized? I mean, just how do they do it
when recycling water? Is food just much too complicated by comparison?
And how come animals in the wild don't get sick eating rotting
corpses??