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If you're shopping in a hurry, it's easy to throw things into your cart without really looking at the label—especially if it's something you've bought several times before. But even if it's a trusted product you buy on repeat, it's always worth taking a moment to check the container, and that includes your favorite, go-to frozen pizza.
There's nothing worse than spending money on something only to find it's not safe to consume when you get home. Here are several red flags, including one major one, you should never ignore on your frozen pizza box/packaging. Torn packaging usually means someone was rough unpacking it, and it was thrown around a lot before finally making it to the supermarket freezer. Chances are if the packaging is severely messed up, the pizza itself will probably be broken, which isn't a total disaster but definitely an annoyance when trying to cook it. Misshapen packaging could just be carelessness, but it could also mean there's some sort of bacterial growth going on inside. Typically this means the bacteria are releasing gas. 'If the food is days or even weeks beyond the printed expiration date and the package is bloated in a way that is not supposed to be in its normal and original packaging, it is always a good idea to just discard such food for safety reasons,' says Wei Zhang, professor of food science and food safety specialist at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Old and faded labels indicate food that's been sitting there for a while—always check the sell-by date, and if you can't see one, don't buy that pizza. 'Manufacturers provide dating to help consumers and retailers decide when food is of best quality. Except for infant formula, dates are not an indicator of the product's safety and are not required by Federal law,' the USDA says. Frozen packaging should be cold to the touch and firm, and soft packaging can indicate something was thawed and reached the right temperature yet. 'Discard foods that have been warmer than 40 °F for more than 2 hours. Discard any foods that have been contaminated by raw meat juices. Dispose of soft or melted ice cream for quality's sake,' the USDA says. One of the major red flags any shopper should look out for when buying frozen pizza is signs of temperature fluctuations. If you see ice crystals on the inside of a frozen pizza box, be careful. This is a sign the pizza has been thawed and refrozen, which causes the large crystals to form. If you don't know how long the food was thawed for or how many times, it could be a food safety issue and simply not worth the risk.
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