Some Whole Foods Customers Complain Turkeys Smelled Bad

[left-of-center2012]

It will be a turkey-free Thanksgiving for a number of Whole Foods customers in seven U.S. states.

Unhappy customers took to Twitter to complain their fresh turkeys smelled bad. Amazon.com Inc.’s upscale grocer confirmed it has since tried to contact customers who bought them after receiving consumer feedback.

”We discovered a small number of fresh turkey products in our South region that did not meet our high expectations for quality,” Whole Foods said in response to a query, without giving a specific number of customers affected. It added that “these products do not pose any known health risks.”

The product was sold in an unspecified number of Whole Foods stores in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, as well as two in the Florida Panhandle. The company said it will offer a $50 Amazon gift card for affected customers.



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[soothsayer]

1. I had that happen with an organic bird from an upscale market

They told me it would clear up but cooking it made the house smell like a sewer. They had me bring it back in to exchange it for a new one, and the smell almost knocked the lady over. They had thought I was exaggerating.

[Blue_true]

2. A similar problem happened with a big grocery chain in England last year.

The problem may have been Christmas Geese in that situation, I forget what the bird was.

I know from childhood experience that when meat is harvested, it is a good idea to remove the guts as fast as possible. Maybe with a lot of the “natural” birds, they were slaughtered, but not gutted right away and were allowed to sit around with the guts inside the dead birds until complete processing could be done.

[GulfCoast66]

3. Cooks Illustrated did a taste test of turkeys years ago.

For those no familiar with CI think the Consumer Reports of food. All very controlled and scientific.

Anyway they found on average frozen birds are better. The main reason is that ‘Fresh’ birds are allowed to be shipped at temps as low as 26 degrees. It does not freeze them solid but forms ice crystals in the flesh pulling water out of the cells. When they repeatedly thaw and get a little frozen they lose moisture. Plus the danger, as mentioned above that they may begin to spoil. If the Turkey, or a chicken is in the sealed bag always check to see if their is ‘air’ in the bag. If so, it is not air but gases caused by the beginning of decomposition. Skip a bird with even a little puffiness in the bag.

Unless you can go straight to a farm and get a freshly slaughtered bird, which can be great, go with frozen.