Um, why is my roast beef shiny and some of it is GREEN?!
Um, why is my roast beef shiny and some of it is GREEN?
I just bought it right now and I opened up the package and its green on parts of it. It isn't like mold, its shiny and green. The sell buy date is in two days. Explanation?
Answers:
It's just the way the light is shining off of the myoglobin in the meat. It has to do with the curing compound reacting with the oxygen, myoglobin and uv light.
You can see the green when you hold the meat at angles to the light.
However, if you feel uncomfortable eating it or the meat feels slimey and smelly, then toss it.
Edit...
I found something on the USDA - Food Safety and Inspection Service website...
Iridescent Color of Roast Beef
Sliced cooked beef or lunch meat can have an iridescent color. Meat contains iron, fat, and many other compounds. When light hits a slice of meat, it splits into colors like a rainbow. There are also various pigments in meat compounds which can give it an iridescent or greenish cast when exposed to heat and processing. Iridescent beef isn't spoiled necessarily. Spoiled cooked beef would probably also be slimy or sticky and have an off-odor.