Holy hell. I wanted to do ham and sauerkraut today, but yesterday, I didn't want to run all the way to the German store for the good kraut, so I went to the Albertson's that's 30 minutes from me. Low selection, as expected. Libby's and one called Steinfelds, which sounds more Jewish than German, but I didn't want to go with bland Libby's so gave the Steinfelds a try.
I opened the jar an hour ago and was hit with the smell of death throwing a botulism party. I don't believe I have ever experienced kraut that went bad, and I eat a lot of kraut. This was like a beyond death smell. I tossed the thing and immediately took the trash outside. The house still smells of rotten kraut. If someone ate this stuff, I think getting deathly ill and needing the hospital would be a best case scenario. I checked the jar before I tossed it and it was dated to NOV2025.
It was so bad that I actually called the Albertsons where I bought it to warn them that they might have a bad batch, and the woman just said, "Oh, sorry. Just bring the jar in and we'll refund you." Even after I explained just how bad it was and that I only called because I was worried about someone getting sick, she was like, "meh". Didn't seem to care. Oh well, my conscience is clear if I read about a sauerkraut poisoning in the area in the next few weeks.
