Salmonella in the air???

With all the hype over tomatoes, it is no wonder I am critical of everything I feed my family. But, in the recent weeks, it is chicken that has me more worried. In need of some major batch cooking, I proceeded to pick up some Pilgrim's Pride chicken from Wal-Mart. I normally do not buy meat at Wal-Mart except for the all natural turkey breast slices that I cannot find them elsewhere. But, I was (as usual) trying to get a million things accomplished and a trip to Sprouts was not in the cards. So, I ventured out of my comfort zone and home I went with 3 packs of chicken breasts. I got home, already knowing what I would cook with all that chicken. I opened one pack, something did not smell right. Everyone in my family knows, I have a nose like a dog. If I don't think it smells right, no one eats it. OK so on to pack #2, same thing, pack #3, you guessed it. I marched right back to Wal-Mart for a refund. "Would you like to exchange these?"....."Ah, no thank you". We went vegetarian that night. So, flash forward a few weeks. I did find a pack of chicken from Sprouts in the deep freeze and so we have been living off of that. But decided once again to venture out, this time to Fresh and Easy since we needed more chicken. This is my first try with their chicken. I got their chicken thighs, dated July 22nd, 4 days from now. You guessed it, BAD. What is the deal???? Could there be another salmonella scandal on the way? Could it be a fluke that the last 2 places where I bought chicken sold me rancid chicken and no one else got any? Does everyone smell their chicken before cooking? After these last few weeks, I sure hope they do!!! We would have been another family (also consuming tomatoes this week) joining the ranks of the afflicted, maybe assuming it was the tomatoes?? Who knows. But, it adds to my paranoia about our food supply. So tonight we are having homemade spanish rice and bean burritos, with salsa AND tomatoes. So AZ folks, beware, the last 4 packs of chicken I have bought have ALL been bad. I don't know WHAT is going on. And even Sprouts had some chicken that went bad (I assume) because I let it sit in the fridge 4 days. I thought that was a bit fast to go bad but all the other packs I bought and cooked were fine before I cooked and froze them so I assumed I just waited a tad bit too long. Who knows. Be careful out there, and always trust your nose!!