How true are expiration dates (homemade, pickle, 2014, tasty)

[oceangaia]

Originally Posted by saibot

Everything else? Meh. I've even heard of people throwing away salt because it was past the sell-by date. Really.

Yeah, it's been sitting in the ground for a hundred million years. We got to it just in time!

[Hulsker 1856]

Most sell-by dates have nothing to do with safety and everything to do with appeal. Manufacturers don't want their products sold when they physically deteriorate to a point where they're no longer aesthetically pleasing to look at or their texture is no longer optimal or when the taste is starting to wane. But they're still perfectly safe. And when the date is predicated on safety, a large margin of error is incorporated. Example: if a producer thinks a jar of X will go bad in 180 days, they'll make sure to post a use-by date of something like 120 days.

Oh, and spices? They never go bad. They just lose their effect. And that's rather the whole point of a spice, isn't it? Using way out-of-date spices is perfectly safe... but mostly pointless.

[mainebrokerman]

I must have some good defensive bacteria....I buy the outdated half price stuff some marked down 80%

I have bbq sauce a year past the expiration date but its still fine.....

my son now checks expiration dates on xmas food gifts...… hes a little particular


ive got canned veggies over 5 yrs old … past the date.. they still look fine..


but yes always good to go thru the fridge …. for a cleansing...

[lubby]

I always check dates. If it's just a few days past then it's fine if it's 2 weeks or more I toss it. But then again I never over buy food that it expires. For those that don't check dates and go by the if it smells, looks good and tastes good method I guess I won't be eating at your house.(no offense) Ketchup and mustard might be the only 2 things I would use way past expiration and I have and it was fine. Spices tend to lose their flavor after a few months so I always buy new if needed. Old medications I have used but only a couple months old. Not 3 years old.

[AlaskaErik]

I looked at my apples, but none of them had any kind of date on them.

[Nov3]

Rancid oils...yup it happens.
Dairy products....toss em or ask the friend to do the ole sniff...'hey hun does this smell sour?"...as person passes out from the smell.

I do my own canning ...and you bet it gets tossed after a certain time frame....but that's extremely rare...I tend to use it in a short time frame.

Worse was a sauce that the acid got over powering...pretty sure I created a car paint remover !

[cebuan]

Expiration date means only one thing. It is the last date on which a retailer is obliged to guarantee the freshness of an unopened product. Absolutely nothing else is signified or implied.

Best-by means exactly what it says: The best time to eat it is by that date. Meaning maybe better before that date than after.

Once you get it home, determine whether to consume it or not using your three senses: Sight, Smell and Common

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by greatblueheron

Cleaning out my refrigerator, discovered of course quite a few expired foods.

Some have the pull date, some best by date. But living alone, it creeps up on me...a half full mayo container is out of date. Most are not used even 3/4 before I need to toss and I despise wasting food. Usually buy a small size if available but they end up costing more.

I'd use some things past the pull date but not long, freshness you want in food products.

Last time I did this had to replace about a dozen spices...this time mayo, dressing, mustard, lemon curd, pesto etc.

So.....check out your cabinets and refrigerator!

good advise,but most foods,even if past expiration or use by date are not going to harm any of us. Those of us who are older grew up in a world with no expiration dates on foods. if it looked ok, spelled ok and tasted ok we ate it. I don't want to even think about how old some of the stuff we ate might have been. As for spices, they will not hurt you no matter how old, they just lose their strength.

I know what you mean about cleaning out the fridge. I am going to do that today. I know i have a jar of sourkraut (spelling) it there that I used once to make salad and am sure it is at least 3 months old: time to toss I think.

[joee5]

Weekly I check the fridge, freezer, pantry and cabinets. Not all at the same time of course. Starting at our pantry and working clockwise each week one gets done.

[JanND]

Long story short, it was 14 below New Years Eve day...so I didn't go out to the store.

I had planned navy beans and ham....and had my Christmas ham bone ready and waiting....plus I like to practice my families tradition of eating black eyed peas on New Years Day.

So, I started rifling through my pantry....I had black eyed peas in a can, expired by a year....and a variety of other canned beans, garbanzos, black beans, seasoned butter beans.....some not expired. I was determined to make a bean soup using those cans of beans and my new crock pot.

Consequently.....I just had the occasion to look online for various canned foods, in this case a variety of canned beans....Which best by dates had expired.....and the results were quite surprising.....3-5 years for the beans that I was looking at.

The ham bean soup was a hit.....served it with cornbread and salad.

Condiments were different....3-4 mths was what I saw.