Check the color of the meat. It doesn't have to be past its expiration date to be spoiled, nor does an off-color meat mean that it is bad. Good poultry meat can be anywhere from bluish-white to yellow in color. Optimally, raw pork is grayish-pink. Ground beef can be tricky. Most people associate the freshest ground beef with a bright red color. However, this reddish color is not the natural color of fresh beef, but occurs due to the meat's exposure to the air. If fresh ground beef could be vacuum-packed and kept from oxygen, its color would be a purplish-red. Contrary to popular belief, just because ground beef has turned brown does not mean that it's bad. Meat from older animals will be darker than that of younger animals. In addition, sometimes the store's lighting can cause a reaction with the meat, turning it a brownish-red.

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