How Can You Tell Squid or Octopus Has Gone Bad?

Fresh squid flesh is translucent, near-white with a pink tinge; as it starts to spoil the colour shifts first toward a purplish pink, then to a dull yellowish tone, and the thin membrane over the flesh peels and flakes in patches. Fresh octopus skin is glossy, somewhere between dark brown and purple, and slightly slick to the touch, while spoiled octopus skin turns dull and fades to a pale grey.

What do smell and touch tell you?

Fresh squid and octopus carry a mild sea smell, at most an iodine-like note; a sharp ammonia smell or a sour odour is the clearest sign of spoilage, and that smell usually does not cook away. In a touch test, fresh flesh should spring back the instant you press it; spoiled squid or octopus holds a fingerprint for a few seconds and feels either spongy-soft or unusually slick.

In octopus, the eyes are a useful clue too: fresh octopus has full, bright eyes, while a spoiling one has sunken, dull eyes. Tentacles sticking together and suckers sitting looser than normal also signal that freshness has faded.

What should you check in frozen products?

In frozen squid or octopus, heavy ice crystals inside the pack or a dull, whitish layer on the flesh (freezer burn) means the product sat too long or was thawed and refrozen; that texture turns rubbery once cooked. A swollen pack or a strong smell on opening signals the product had already thawed and sat for a while, and it should not be eaten in that state.

Eating spoiled seafood, particularly through histamine build-up, can cause serious food poisoning, with symptoms that can include facial flushing, headache and nausea. So a piece of squid or octopus with a questionable colour, smell or texture should not be assumed to 'fix itself' with cooking — it should simply be discarded.

How long can cooked squid or octopus keep?

Cooked squid or octopus should be eaten within 2-3 days in a covered container in the fridge; beyond that the flesh toughens and the smell starts turning sour. If cooked seafood has sat at room temperature for more than two hours, it should not be eaten straight away even if it looks fine — it needs to go back in the fridge first.

Getting raw squid or octopus onto ice or into the coldest part of the fridge as soon as possible after buying it is the most practical way to shorten the waiting time and keep it fresh; if the trip home takes a while, such as more than an hour in hot weather, it should be the last stop on the shopping trip.

A strong smell drifting across a whole seafood counter should not be treated as normal — a genuinely fresh counter does not have an overpowering, unpleasant odour. When buying, checking whether the squid and octopus sit on ice, out of direct sun, also gives a good sense of how hygienic the counter is overall.