When you have pets and manage a household, a strange habit develops.

"Why throw this away? This costs money too."

When I throw away leftover food from the refrigerator, suddenly I feel the frugality of my grandmother from the Joseon Dynasty, which I used to dislike.

About two weeks ago, I found some opened sausages in the corner of the fridge that I should have thrown away...

"Oh my, I didn't know this was here!"

Thinking about it, it seems like it had been over a week.

Normally, I should have sent it straight to the trash, but there was no strange smell, and the color of the dried sausage looked a bit suspicious.

So I thought, as if I were some kind of surgeon.

"If I just cut off the top, it should be fine, right?"

It was a strange logic that gave me confidence that if I just removed the spoiled part, the rest would be okay.

I cut off a good thick portion from the top and smelled it again, and it didn't seem that strange.

"Yeah, if I cook it well, the bacteria and everything will die."

I put it in the frying pan and cooked it thoroughly. I even fried an egg to eat with it, and it tasted perfectly fine.

My son grabbed a few pieces next to me, and I felt it was a waste, so I ate almost all of it.

Then, a few hours later, I got exactly the punishment for the amount I ate.

My son just said his stomach hurt and went to the bathroom a few times.

But I was on a different level. My stomach started to churn, I felt twisted, and I broke out in a cold sweat.

I lay down on the bed, then rushed to the bathroom, lay down again, and then back to the bathroom. Eventually, even though I hadn't eaten anything, my stomach kept ringing the emergency bell.

That's when I realized.

"Oh no, eating that sausage was a mistake."

After going through this experience, I found out that I had trusted my refrigerator too much.

The refrigerator is not a time machine that stops food from aging.

At 40°F, or about 4°C, it only slows down the growth rate of many bacteria, but it doesn't make food safe forever.

Especially for sausages and ham, the conditions change completely before and after opening.

After opening, the safe storage period in the refrigerator is only about 3-4 days.

Bacon lasts about 7 days, raw beef or pork lasts 3-5 days, ground meat or chicken lasts 1-2 days, and already cooked meat dishes usually last about 3-4 days.

And my thought of "just cutting off the top should be fine" is also a dangerous idea.

For moist foods like ham or sausages, just cutting off the outer part does not guarantee that the rest is safe.

Just because it smells okay and looks fine doesn't mean it's safe.

More importantly, the idea that "if I cook it well, it will be fine" is misleading.

While sufficient heat can kill many bacteria, some toxins already produced in the food are heat-resistant and may not be resolved by cooking.

No matter how much you cook old Spam, it won't turn back into new Spam.

Ham and sausages also contain fat, so if they are exposed to air after opening, oxidation can occur, changing their taste and smell.

While rancidity and food poisoning are not the same phenomenon, the conclusion remains that there is no reason to eat old processed meats.

In the end, I wasted a whole day just to save a few dollars.

Now, when I find old food in the refrigerator, I plan to say just one thing to myself.

"You don't remember when you opened this, do you? Then throw it away."

In Phoenix, it can be 110 degrees outside in the summer.

If you eat something bad, it can cause chaos in your stomach.