How long is danagerous - I failed to put a raw chicken in the fridge?

I am very relaxed about food dates but in this case I would bin it.

To be honest, I really wouldn't touch it myself and definitely wouldn't serve it to my family.

Please don't give possibly dodgy food to animals, they can get ill just as easily. One of our cats got Salmonella, goodness knows how as we don't share food with them, but they are on a special raw food diet, must have been from that. I wouldn't recommend sharing a house with a cat with Salmonella!!!

I did exactly the same some months ago, and binned the chicken and only afterwards consulted the oracle ( Google). This is what I found and saved for the next forgetfulness:
Can packaged raw chicken or lamb meat sitting at room temperature for 24 hours still be safe to eat after cooking it to the right internal temperature?

Timothy Sly, Food-borne diseases epidemiologist
Updated Mar 14, 2018

Ready for the real facts? These meats do not present a health problem!
RAW MEATS we know are contaminated (especially poultry), but they are quickly overgrown by "spoilage" bacteria, not pathogenic types. If it was a particularly warm day, say in summer, it is just possible that at the end of 24 hours, the chicken (and less so the lamb) may have developed a little grey-green coloration and could smell a little sour, due to the overgrowth of 'spoilage' bacteria. It may be unpleasant to consume, so best to discard it. But if it smells ok, doesn't feel slimy, not greenish, go ahead, cook it PROPERLY, cook it THOROUGHLY, and all will be well. I've been investigating and researching food borne disease for decades, and eating cooked meat that became a little ripe before cooking is not an identified cause of illness.
This is TOTALLY different to cooked meats. Because most of the 'spoilage' organisms have been eliminated by cooking, the pathogenic bacteria can now grow and do their damage, or produce their toxins. A piece of ham with Salmonella typhi on it may make you seriously ill (or even kill you) but you may never detect or suspect it. Potato salad may have grown more than a million Bacillus cereus per gram and you'd never know.
COOKED meats (and many other potentially hazardous ready-to-eat-foods) should be kept cool or hot, not 'warm', unless they are already too 'dry', too salty, to acidic, too sweet, too 'preserved' to grow bacteria.
Bottom line: Raw meats we know are contaminated, but they will tell you clearly if they are OK to cook and serve - colour, texture, smell.... You decide.
(Note that I didn't refer once to "best-before" dates! They are NOT as helpful or informative as many people think, and certainly add to the tragic amount of wasted food in all countries)
48.7k views · View Upvoters · Answer requested by Marice Kratz

Absolutely not. Have you ever had salmonella food poisoning, if you had you would not want it again.

Three day old chicken sitting around in fairly warm temperature also you say a tad whiffy so that means it has been slowly deteriorating. Get it out of your oven and sling it in the bin or as well as all the other viruses you will possibly get food poisoning.

I would have binned it. You don’t know how old the chicken was before it came to you, whereas your farmer grandparents would have known exactly when the chicken was killed.

When I first glanced at the post I thought 4 hours ! Seriously though 3 days? Where is the OP btw?

I’ve had salmonella poisoning.... don’t eat it.... just not worth it!

Just not worth the risk. Throw it away - I think you know this really, anyway.

Don`t eat it .
I have just thrown one in the bin that has been in the fridge for two days and the date is three days away.
It stunk and was slimy to touch.
I`m wondering just how long they were left out of the fridge at the shop.

No, I think the whiff is a sure sign that it’s certainly past it’s best.

Definitely wouldn't eat it and please don't give it to the poor dog!

Ooh egg and chips with ketchup yum yum
My favourite meal when I was a child. I want it now!!

I really wouldn't. And apparently washing just makes it worse.
I think it's different when you are a farmer and you know how the chicken has been fed etc but now there is the risk of salmonella.
I have had food poisoning and it was awful so I am extra cautious. I would hate to get it under the present circumstances.

Me too!

If your cat won't eat it neither should you my mum used to say. Personally I wouldn't risk it.We used to keep meat on cold marble slabs In meat safes pre fridges but we also knew more about where it had come from.

don't risk it,and don't risk the dog getting ill either

Eating it would be a terrible risk you may be willing to take, but think of the NHS and the strain it is under. You would be risking needing treatment for food poisoning. Also, whilst at hospital, you risk contracting Covid-19!

Nooooooooo! If you get ill? Into a hospital gearing up for infectious Corvid patients? Seriously???

I'm afraid saying your family were farmers won't help. In these days of mass produced, intensive farming, livestock are subjected to all sorts of horrible diseases and injuries that introduce pathogens. I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.

Please, please don't eat it. I can see why you want to be frugal right now, I really can, but you will need intensive care if this goes badly wrong.

You have highlighted what could be a serious problem for those (not you) who may be stockpiling.
Halfway through fried egg and chips last night (finishing off the tail end a bag of oven chips from the freezer and two eggs from the egg bowl) I had to make a dash for the smallest room ?????????
I can only think one of the eggs was dodgy, but nothing smelt whiffy, however I have thrown away the remaining 4 (marked 18 March ???) .
I am usually pretty relaxed about food which may be out of date but not by much and have always trusted my sene of smell. But.....might need to be more careful as with nobody but me here, the food turnover will be down

Hope you dumped the chicken BTW

Would you accept it if a store displayed chickens on a non chilled counters for 3 days before you bought it. Very much doubt you would. Perhaps dissecting then cremating on a BBQ would be then be fit for eating. Please let us know how you all fare.

I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.