This man ate ‘expired’ food for a year. Here’s why expiration dates are practically meaningless.

I do eat expired yogurt if it looksand smells fine, but am always a bit nervous about it. Looks like I shouldn't have worried.

And? Some people smoke like chimney for 30 years and are still hanging in there. I don't need to copy that shit.

There was a whole piece on this on NPR about a month or two ago, how most expiration dates are bullshit and most food doesn't go bad if it's unopened. Similar point too--that we throw away enough food to feed The Darfur Orphan and his entire country

No shit, I saw some body wash with and expiration date on it. I have no doubt the squeamie-meemies millennials will throw it out.

It's to avoid legal liability on the company's side. Most people can just do the smell/look test to see if something is still edible. Unless you've survived off shit processed food for so long you've lost that ability.

Years ago when generic and store brand soda began capturing market share, Coke and Pepsi started putting expiration dates on their bottles and cans. It was completely bogus, but selling their superior freshness to cheaper store brands was easy marketing.

Expiration dates are also used to keep product flushing through retail outlets supplied by independent suppliers. Manufacturers learned that their products could sit in store shelves indefinitely if they didn’t incentivize clearing out product.

I’ve noticed that McDonald’s gave me expired yogurt at least a of couple of times. I’ve noticed it only after finished eating them. I didn’t noticed any difference in taste nor had stomach trouble.

I'm noticing the opposite. I buy food and it spoils so quickly. Either time is moving ridiculously faster or it is already a bit old at the store itself. I can't get through a loaf of bread without it turning green with mold (and, no, I don't eat it, though this too is apparently safe to do).

It sounds like you just have to clean your kitchen more often, ya slob!

LOL, I would be insulted but you are dead on. My kitchen is a mess. I am curious though; is that really a reason that things would spilt faster? I mean, most are in the refrigerator. But would that affect the bread? How? Mold agents in the air?

My partner is an absolute stickler about expiration dates for food and medicines. I know it's bunk but it's so hard to convince him

Most yogurts are sealed in airtight containers. It takes a long long time to expire in those conditions

Eating expired food is still a foolish risk, it could end up being the most expensive, (and deadly), meal you've ever eaten.

[quote] Years ago when generic and store brand soda began capturing market share, Coke and Pepsi started putting expiration dates on their bottles and cans. It was completely bogus, but selling their superior freshness to cheaper store brands was easy marketing.

Expiration dates on sodas are not bogus. While they won't make you sick, they do taste terrible even close to the date stamp. When I used to drink diet sodas I could always tell before looking at the date if I'd gotten a "skunky" one. And sure enough, it was a couple weeks prior to the expiration date or some time after it. Taught me to check the dates before I bought them. And now I just don't buy them at all.

So Mom’s Organic Market sells food that fell off a truck 6 months ago?

I thought that was Aldi’s competitive advantage.

Hoarders are into past expiration food, also unrefrigerated. I guess if the smell doesn't make them gag, it's dinner time. A little past expiration is usually fine, it's just not as enjoyable to eat. They should sell that stuff cheap, poor people would appreciate it.

The irony of someone from Moms pushing the labels are meaningless message when their entire store is full of woo like organic, non-gmo, all natural, hormone free, antibiotic free, etc. it’s all marketing. He’s just too stupid to realize it.

[quote]their entire store is full of woo

I wanna go to this store. Do they ever have woo sales?

Buttermilk and heavy cream keep forever. I’ve used buttermilk six months after buying it. My husband eats old meat. I can’t do that. I barely like it New.

[quote] I can't get through a loaf of bread without it turning green with mold

R8 -- I refrigerate my bread, I know this is sacrilegious to some but it has lasted over 6 months in the refrigerator with no mold and if it gets a little dry I either microwave it for a couple of seconds to bring back the moisture or toast it. I just don't eat enough bread to not refrigerate it, I would get two slices out of it and then have to throw it away.

Microwaving old refrigerated bread? Dear lord, now I've heard it all.

Bread is $1.25

I think it was on an episode of Rocco de Spirito's show where the husband was a doctor and his wife complained he always ate food after the expiration date. Some of the items in the fridge had expired years ago. I remember thinking this guy's a doctor and he's still standing so he should know if it's harmful or not.

This is like the ultimate Maiden Aunt Brigade thread.

The worst case scenario with most expired food is that it will be a little stale.

[quote]Bread is $1.25

Are you posting from the 1990s?

Tell us about beepers.

I keep loaves of bread in the freezer and I've never had an issue.

Do you have any frozen butter to go with it?

Yes, I do. Would you like a few pats (of butter that is?)

No r25 I shop at Walmart.

So do I, r29. In New York the cheapest you’ll get it for is about $2.59. Maybe a $1.99 special on occasion.

I put sliced bread in the freezer also. I almost always have it as toast for breakfast or toasted as a sandwich. I comes out perfect every time from the toaster.

Yes, keep bread in the freezer and you don't have to worry about mold and if you keep it properly sealed, it'll be fresh every time. Why would you worry about yogurt expiring? Or sour cream? Unless there's mold it's fine. The only thing I don't let hang around is leftovers...something like chicken soup in Tupperware I'd eat PDQ or toss. Same with leftover meats.

[quote] A little past expiration is usually fine, it's just not as enjoyable to eat. They should sell that stuff cheap, poor people would appreciate it.

The Grocery Outlet chain does that, R16. The closer the expiration date becomes, the lower the price goes. If I'm going to use yogurt to make smoothies and freeze them for future breakfasts, I can buy it just before it expires for a fraction of the regular price with no harm done.

I actually thought this was getting to be common knowledge by now. That expiration dates aren't really a hard and fast "rule."

Do people really think expiration dates are some magical thing where the food immediately goes bad at the stroke of midnight? How could the food tell time?

I’ve got some milk in the fridge that’s about to turn sour.

And there it goes.

R36, freeze the milk and use it in recipes that call for baking soda or buttermilk or sour cream (including homemade ranch dressing or dip). Google substitutes for buttermilk and sour cream to learn what adjustments need to be made -- easy, cheaper than buying special ingredients, and avoids wasting the sour milk. My mother used to set a shallow bowl of milk on top of the refrigerator overnight to get sour, then added it to recipes for chocolate cake the next day -- the linked recipe is a simple one for that.

You are full of it, R37. You don't make buttermilk or even soured milk, by leaving out regular pasteurized milk. Commercial buttermilk is cultured, similar to yogurt or sour cream. Pasteurized milk will sour from whatever random bacteria are in the environment, likely leading to nasty results.

Good to know. I have a giant tub of expired potato salad in my cupboard I was going to bring to the office potluck. I was going to buy a new tub to bring but now I won’t have to.

^ You must really like your coworkers. 😂

Look it up, R38.

Recipes? Dafuq I look like, Julia Child?

I have a bad habit of buying jars of some kind of sauce, using it once and leaving in the fridge for ages. How long do you reckon opened jars are safe for? Things like alfredo sauce or Indian cooking sauces. I feel a little safer with tomato-based sauces because of all the acid, but the others are more of a question mark.

I've had food poisoning a few times in my life so I'm prone to erring on the side of caution.

Well, every so often we go through our medicine cabinet and our pantry to check dates on canned goods. I once tossed some tuna that had an expiration date of 2011. I figured since it was several years past the date, maybe I better.

Anyone who shops knows this to be true. The one thing I pause on is prepared salads which are generally accurate in terms of expiration, and milk. Of course, you can tell by smell and taste if both of these things are expired. Dates are meant as guidelines, not cut and dry throw away times. Is this really even a thing that people don’t get this? It’s amazing to me how stupid people even get through the day sometimes.

The article was just clickbait R45.

OTOH re your comments about stupid people, have you ever watched people at self-checkout? It changed my outlook on humanity.

Only Americans are obsessed with expiration dates.

My mother only threw out expired milk when we were growing up, and even that had to pass her smell/taste test before it got tossed out. Every thing else got put on the stove, onto a plate, and we had to eat it. So I've known expiration dates were bullshit. And pills, gurl please. I keep that shit forever!

My understanding with pills is if they’re passed the expiration date they merely suffer efficacy.

Why would you take a risk like that with pills? The whole purpose of pills is to get you to feel better. If it's not as effective after the expiration date, they why the fuck would you take it?

[quote] Years ago when generic and store brand soda began capturing market share, Coke and Pepsi started putting expiration dates on their bottles and cans. It was completely bogus

No it isn't bogus. Drink a coke past it's expiration date. It doesn't taste like Coke. It taste's like some disgusting generic soda. It won't harm you, but it taste's like shit. If you like stuff that taste's like shit, just buy cheap shit in the first place

[quote] My understanding with pills is if they’re passed the expiration date they merely suffer efficacy.

They may suffer efficacy. But taking expired Tetracycline is VERY DANGEROUS. You can harm your kidneys

Yes, r52, but most of us don’t have antibiotics in our medicine cabinets as much as, say, Tylenol.

R50, the point is you’re not taking a risk. Think of this scenario: you catch a cold and can’t sleep. The NyQuil you have in your medicine cabinet expired two months ago. Damn.

Do you go to the store and buy a new bottle in the middle of the night, or do you take the expired NyQuil, knowing the expiration date means it’s just not as effective as when it’s new?

Once it's in you, you can't get it out. I don't chance it. Especially medicine. I don't want to be one of those freak casualties.

I'm so thankful for this thread..it reminded me to race to the medicine chest and throw out my expired Oxys an Vicodin. Thank gawd I checked!

I have some hydrocodone that’s over 20 years old. It’s probably completely ineffective at this point but I can’t bring myself to throw it away.

Don’t, r56. I’ll take it off your hands.

[quote] No it isn't bogus. Drink a coke past it's expiration date. It doesn't taste like Coke. It taste's like some disgusting generic soda. It won't harm you, but it taste's like shit. If you like stuff that taste's like shit, just buy cheap shit in the first place

Thanks. Maybe read the thread next time. This was covered.

I had Norco left over from surgery and three years later took some when I was in screaming agony from a tooth that had shattered. It was absolutely not as strong as it had been three years prior, and it had just been sitting in a box on a shelf in my office, out of the sun. If yours is over 20 years old, it has to be basically useless by now.

For whatever reason, the meat at my local Kroger doesn't even last until the expiration date. If I buy meat there, I put it in the freezer immediately, and even then don't dare leave it in the fridge more than three days after taking it out of the freezer.

I'd heard so many people say that meat that looked a little brown was fine, but I fried some ground beef like that up for chili one night and it was positively rank. The smell was terrible and by the time I got a trash bag to scrape it into, it was green. And it had only been out of the freezer and in the fridge for about 36 hours. The center was still frozen.

Over time, baking powder loses its ability to make batter rise. So there is a legitimate reason to print expiration dates on cans of the powder and boxes of products that include it (cake mixes, muffin mixes, etc). I don't know how accurate those dates are, but I did once bake an extremely flat batch of cornbread from a mix that was 2 years old.

And I agree about soft drinks after trying a very old can of Pepsi -- so flat that it had no bubbles and no taste, not even sweet.