I purchased a 10lb untrimmed packer brisket from Kroger on the morning of 1/16. I immediately carried it home and put it into the refrigerator. Last night, I cut it opened so that I could cube it to make chili tonight, and I was immediately hit with the smell of sulfer. It just STANK. As a civil engineer, I've visited a lot of water (and wastewater) facilities, so I'm quite familiar with the smell of H2S. This was definitely H2S smell. I threw the whole brisket out because it smelled that awful.

Have any of you experienced this? It was well short of the expiration date (2/1), and had been refrigerated the entire time it was in my possession. Not sure what went wrong.

Can any of you food science types tell me what happened? I'm not familiar with this spoilage mechanism.

This happened to us with pork ribs from Costco. We took it back and they said that it seemed like they got bad batch as several people had returned them.

Exact same thing happened to us a couple of years ago. Stores will take back spoiled meat. A word of advice to anyone in a similar position, freeze the meat before returning it. They were appreciative of that.

Yep, happened with us and a huge pork loin. Smelled like rotten eggs once we opened the package. We froze it and returned it. No questions ask, and yes they were so happy we froze it as well.

Max Power said:

---

Exact same thing happened to us a couple of years ago. Stores will take back spoiled meat. A word of advice to anyone in a similar position, freeze the meat before returning it. They were appreciative of that.

---

I wish I had thought of this.

They may refund your money without the brisket. I've had similar happen and Kroger didn't ask for proof.

It's better to burn out than fade away
The king is gone but he's not forgotten.

What spoilage mechanism causes this tho? Is it bacterial, a chemical reaction, or some sort of degradation?

I thought vacuum seal (low O2) + refrigeration was pretty much foolproof against bacteria. I suppose a chemical reaction makes sense, but I don't know how that much sulfur gets added by accident. There was no UV or air exposure here.

It can still rot . Might have been kept above correct temps before it was sold.

I've had an uncanny ability to pick spoiled ribs from the grocery store over the years. I'm so accomplished at it, I even managed to select some spoiled plate ribs from the small butcher shop, Stone Cold Meats, a few years ago. A pretty impressive feat considering their quality of sourcing!

Could your fridge be too warm??

This happened to me with a brisket from HEB. Smell was awful and it latched onto anything it touched. I was too lazy to return it though, so I threw it in the garbage.