How true are expiration dates

[Hedgehog_Mom]

I have a bottle of cloves that expired in 2002. They still smell and taste like cloves. I think the bottle was about $9 when I bought it in 1998.

I only think about cloves when I make pumpkin pie or empanadas and usually I'm in the middle of making them when I think about how old the cloves are, and then I think, "Oh well," and I throw them in anyhow.

[LifeIsGood01]

Originally Posted by Podo944

Oh my goodness, I just cleaned out and sorted the shelf in my kitchen that had a zillion containers of various sizes and brands containing various spices! Lol!! It's like a time warp in there! A virtual history museum!
"But wait! What? Wasn't 2011 just a couple of of years ago?" (it was FIVE!) "Oh I remember 2009... that's the year we..." etc. etc.

I actually found an unopened bottle of hot sauce from 2004! Okay, now that's scary!

Needless to say 3/4 of that shelf is now empty!

Hot sauce is a condiment. Don't know if actual spices have expiration dates. I know in south Florida with the humidity the powdered ones cake up and get hard.

[P47P47]

I just cleared a bunch of canned goods and other foodstuffs out of my mother's basement. Some of them had expiration dates from the last century.


One bottle of Sauer's barbecue sauce had the old label with the guy mopping down hogs on a pit.

[convextech]

Originally Posted by LifeIsGood01

Hot sauce is a condiment. Don't know if actual spices have expiration dates. I know in south Florida with the humidity the powdered ones cake up and get hard.

Add some grains of rice to the jar and they absorb the moisture. I live in Georgia and that's what I do.

[Missy2U]

Originally Posted by convextech

I didn't know spices could go bad. I have some spices that I bought 10 years ago that are still fine to use.

I don't know if they "go bad", per se - I think it's more a matter of they lose their flavor/intensity. But I could be WAY wrong - happens all the time.

[grampaTom]

Hot sauce should have enough vinegar in it to be safe as long as it wasn't opened. I've used VERY old Tabasco before with no ill effects.

[Dirt Grinder]

Originally Posted by grampaTom

...I've used VERY old Tabasco before with no ill effects.

At least none that you've noticed.

[jlawrence01]

I had some Cayenne pepper that was really pretty old this afternoon ... I was really worried that it had lost its potency.

Nope ... as I am still enduring its strength.

[BOS2IAD]

Originally Posted by P47P47

I just cleared a bunch of canned goods and other foodstuffs out of my mother's basement. Some of them had expiration dates from the last century.


One bottle of Sauer's barbecue sauce had the old label with the guy mopping down hogs on a pit.

Oh my! This sounds exactly like what happened after my mother died.

We were helping my Dad clean out things in their house. She had hoarded food. Not only was it in the fridge in the kitchen but also in the fridge plus a freezer in their garage. Also, the kitchen pantry was jam packed, as well as storage shelves in the garage. Even the bedroom they used as a study had a closetful. Our daughter came across a bottle of French dressing that had turned white, it was that old!

As for spices---I can relate. Many times, I'll reach for a spice I don't use much only to find that it expired years ago.

So, what is the solution when it comes to spices? Very rarely, do we use up a spice before the expiration date. It seems like such a waste to have to throw out what appear to be perfectly good ones. I've taken to checking to see if the spice still has decent potency before tossing it.

[skugelstadt]

Originally Posted by convextech

I didn't know spices could go bad. I have some spices that I bought 10 years ago that are still fine to use.

My understanding as well for dry spices. They may not have the same flavor (pepper comes to mind) but should be good. I've used old spices