Constance said:
I agree with Charlie. Things don't spoil in the freezer...they just get freezer burn if not wrapped properly. Keeping the moisture in and the air out is the secret. This is where aluminum foil and freezer weight ziploc bags are your friends.
I've cooked beef that's 4 years old, and it's been fine for soups or stews.
Chicken can get a funky taste, but we ate some the other night that was a year old, and it was delicious.
Fish can dry out very fast, so we try to eat it within a few months. Kim freezes his bass fillets in water though, and they keep quite well that way. He found a bag in the bottom of the freezer a while back that was 3 years old, and when he fried it up it was still great.
Vegetables that have been blanched, fruit that's been sugared and frozen in it's own juice, and tomato products packed in freezer bags will last a long time without any deterioration.
Food most certainly will and does spoil in the freezer. Toxins that have been produced by pathogens on the surface of food cannot be killed with freezing. The ciguatera toxin, a seafood toxin, cannot be smelled or tasted and is neither destroyed by freezing or cooking. Scromboid poisoning is one of the most common forms of illness caused by fish toxin in the US. This illness produces histamines, also not killed by freezing or cooking.
Mushroom toxins cannot be destroyed by freezing or cooking.
Meat or poultry that is stored in the supermarket package of styrofoam and plastic is not even remotely close to airtight, allowing microorganisms to penetrate the container and contaminate the food. If you rewrap the food, the possibility of cross contamination from hands, cutting boards, counter tops, even a stray hair can also introduce pathogens to the surface, producing toxins that are not killed by freezing. So, your meat that is sitting in the freezer for more than 3 months is festering, plain and simple. It may be doing it quietly, but it is doing it.
I've heard the tired old argument a thousand times..."we never got sick before"....Chances are you did and didn't take overnotice of the symptoms. Even if you didn't, is the price of a 4 year old piece of meat worth the risk?? Really??
Like I told Charlie, I'm proud of my certifications, which I have to renew by retesting every three years. I don't give information that I simply think works best for me, when it comes to food safety and sanitation. I give it, correctly and responsibly.
One more thing...moisture is a vehicle for contaminants, just as bad as the air.