When the Meat Stick Goes Bad

Some people prefer sweet snacks like cookies, candy bars, and cupcakes. I don't hate sweet snacks (seriously, who can pass up a fresh donut?), but when it comes to snacking, I'm a more of a salty snack kind of guy. I can easily scarf down an entire $15 bag of beef jerky on a one-hour road trip. In fact, my ideal road trip snack-pack would include corn nuts, sunflower seeds, and a bagful of jerky or meat sticks. Topped off by a large fountain pop with extra ice and I'm good to go.

One of my favorite, under $2 meat snacks are those pepperoni sticks from Tillamook. Slim Jim's always seems to have a weird, pasty meat texture (and a very artificially colored appearance). Pre-coronavirus, I would sometimes buy those ones you see in the bulk-bin dispenser display thing at the gas station. Those always seemed kind of unsanitary and I haven't seen them around anywhere since COVID-19.Consider me a meat snack snob, but in my opinion the Tillamook meat products are usually one of the better options at the convenience store.

Running some errands yesterday, I popped into Town Pump to grab a delicious meat snack. I thought the stick seemed a little firm when I grabbed it from the display box. In the car I opened it up and took the first bite. It was as hard as a rock! Closer inspection on the packaging revealed a Best By date of October 2019.

It's arguable that cured, processed meat with preservatives is still okay to eat seven months past it's Best By date. I'm not a picky person (nor am I much of a complainer), but I just couldn't do it. Naturally, I didn't keep the receipt and wasn't going to run back to the gas station over $1.39. I did reach out to the company via email and they promptly responded and said they'd mail a replacement.

What's the most out-dated food product you've ever purchased or eaten? Tell us in the Comments or Message Us button on the Mobile App!