Smoked Salmon question

Was just cleaning out my fridge and wondering about a cryovak sleeve (never opened) of a smoked coho salmon fillet. You know the kind...it's in the grocery store in a refrigerated section near where the meat is sold...
Well, the date on it is May 2011. I wouldn't have thought smoked salmon (packaged like this, especially) would really go bad. Am I totally off base?

I am no expert, but I'm with you on this one, Carrie. I wouldn't think there would be a problem with a vacuum sealed, frozen, smoked salmon (the tri-fecta of preservation. On that same note, I'm wondering about a confit duck I prepared in May that is still in the fridge, totally submerged in duck fat. Do I dare use it for a cassoulet? Starving for answers to these questions.

I think both are safe to eat. Especially the confit duck. Salting, smoking, and confit in fat are 3 ancient ways of preserving food that go back far before the days of refrigeration. And our ancestors survived, eating that stuff.

I think salt cod must be pretty much eternal. My grandmother used to cook that. The kitchen smelled awful during the re-hydration phase, where you soak the cod to get rid of the excess salt. But then what she cooked with it tasted so good.

Obviously you need to check with your nose, if something is wrong I'd say you are likely to smell something off.

I've had some experience with smoked salmon packages like that - you should be fine. Smell carefully, though, just in case.