a cooking question: clam chowder

[Nattack]

hello there folks. im making a soup for the hell of it (bored at work, work in kitchen, etc) and have a simple question about this can of clams:

is it supposed to have green parts on them? or is my whitesauce soup ruined ):

im not the most experienced cook, but i do love learning. but if these clams are bad, i dont want to learn from food poisoning.

[Odon]

Check the date on the can?

[Nattack]

best by feb 2013!

[ZarakiKujata]

If the clam smells you shouldn't eat out of it's can.

[SamanosukeShiva]

what kind of green stuff? like puss? All this time I've been making clam chowder, fresh or canned clam, never seen "green stuff", anything close to green would be like lobster's membrane or something. Rule of thumb though, if you don't know what it is, just don't use it. Check also the date of the harvest on the label, spring/summer time generally have bad shellfishes overall.

[Nattack]

the flesh itself has a green colour to it, inspecting one now

they are simply minced clams, it isnt a chowder within a can, its cans in water.

on further inspection it is inside the clam, i cut it open and it "fell out"

i think it had a baby greenthing

[Zeb]

Don't ever look inside a clam's guts if you ever want to eat them again.

[Miragemaiden]

You mean the stringy crap? That's normal, but if it smells bad, toss it.