The Cooking forum people are pretty good about things like that; I personally am distrustful of situations like that and tend to trash easily.
You could try to contact the fabricator.

I googled Krakus Ham a little bit and found a couple of importer sites. One of them said, " shipped refrigerated" and the other one "shipping and storage 0 to 6 C (32 to 42 F)". I wouldn't risk it and toss it.
Katharina

I agree. I would definately not eat them.

Toss it. I've had severe food poisoning, and it's not worth the price of a canned ham.

What about notifying the person who gave out the hams so he can notify the other recipients? If they were supposed to have been refrigerated all along and haven't been, many others could be at risk...

On the other hand, it seems odd to 'can' something that then requires refrigeration prior to opening. Possible certainly, but I've never heard of it.

Thanks everyone, for your thoughts. Yes, my husband got right on the Nextel and called the other folks who got some of the hams.

It's not like his employer bought them and then handed them out company wide, thank goodness. It's just a few hams that arrived along with all the chocolate, fruit baskets, liquor, etc as gifts from contractors and such. The secretary saw "canned hams" and didn't read the boxes which were marked "must be refrigerated" so they sat on the floor for a few days.

I do hate to throw away food. We have an old refrigerator in our garage, and sometimes in winter it freezes up - which causes it to stop working. I lost a bunch of ostrich and buffalo patties that way. They still SMELLED OK but I wasn't willing to risk it.

demicent, I have been known to stretch storage and refrigerator limits, but I'm with you all here... this one I wouldn't risk. Kudos to your husband for alerting the others, as well.

Yep, risk/benefit analysis...think of it that way and it's pretty clear.

Oh HAHA, I typed Buffalo Patties. That makes me think of Buffalo Chips. I might burn em, but I wouldn't eat em. I meant meat patties of course.

Although I have no idea what Ostrich droppings are called.

Hmm. How about sending them to Sue36's next door nightmares- er, neighbors?

Just a little HamGram to say hello!

LOLOLOL. Pecanpie, she might get sued or arrested for poisoning, malicious hospitality, or attempted murder! One just never knows.... =]