I read a story involving the Butterball Turkey company, which set up a hotline to answer consumers’ questions about preparing holiday turkeys. One woman called to ask about cooking a turkey that had been in her freezer for 23 years.

The operator told her it might be safe if the freezer had been kept below 0o the entire time. But the operator warned the woman that, even if it were safe, the flavor had probably deteriorated, and she wouldn’t recommend eating it. The caller replied, “That’s what we thought. We’ll just give it to the church.”