6 Foods You Should Never Eat Past The Expiration Date

At the supermarket, most packaged foods are labeled with an expiration date and perhaps a “sell-by” date. The sell-by date is a marker for the store to swap out the product with a fresher one, and at home, you can typically eat non-perishables long after the sell-by date. It may not be quite as delicious as when it was fresher, but the likelihood of getting sick eating food after its sell-by date is low.

The expiration date (or the “use-by” date), however, is more indicative of food safety and flags the last day a food can be safely enjoyed before it becomes potentially hazardous or toxic.

Meet Our Expert, Dr. Cynthia Odogwu, MD, a family medicine doctor based in Maryland.

Some foods can be safely enjoyed a few days after their expiration date (think frozen meals, dried pastas, spices, and honey), but others pose a real risk and should be tossed if you can’t eat them on their last safe day. Here are the most essential foods to throw out once they expire:

“Raw meats such as chicken, beef, and pork should not be consumed after their expiry date,” says Dr. Cynthia Odogwu, MD. “They are likely to go bad and grow harmful bacteria such as salmonella and E.coli, which cause foodborne illnesses.”

Just like raw meat, raw fish past its expiration date is a food safety hazard. Fish should be eaten the day it’s purchased, and within 48 hours it’s considered expired. Signs of a hazardous fish filet include a slimy texture and a bad smell, more reminiscent of cleaning chemicals than the sea.

“Once ready-to-eat deli meats and cold cuts expire, it is necessary to throw them out,” says Dr. Odogwu. “This is because they can become contaminated with Listeria, which can continue to grow even when refrigerated.” Any deli meat that’s suspiciously grey or green in color or slimier than normal has expired.

“Throw out pre-packaged, ready-to-eat salads once they expire,” says Dr. Odogwu. “This is because as their expiry date gets nearer, the amount of germs in them grows. These germs can both cause the salad to spoil and make one sick.” Pay attention to the date on the container, and if you condense the packaged salads into a new container, write the expiry date on a piece of tape and stick it on.

“Unpasteurized cheeses, such as brie, should be thrown out once they expire because they can become contaminated with bacteria such as Listeria,” explains Dr. Odogwu. This goes for other fresh cheeses, including feta, queso fresco, and pretty much all soft cheese wheels.

You don’t want to eat spoiled fungi. Mushrooms that have started to get slimy or significantly discolored need to be tossed, as they can carry bacteria in them—possibly botulism or other toxins that can leave you very sick with food poisoning, or worse. The best way to store mushrooms is to keep them in a paper bag, lined with a paper towel, in the fridge, so that they don’t absorb excess moisture and expire too quickly.

I ate some questionable blue cheese last week (it's hard to tell if it's moldy because of course there's natural mold in the cheese) and was sick as a dog for three days.

Wow what an informative article.

Do people really need to be reminded not to cook/eat raw meat that is spoiled??

Like, duh.

How long does an opened container of Simply Lemonade last in the fridge?

Then there's meat from nyc supermarkets. It should be consumed well before the sell-by date, after which it should be treated as a biohazard

Who the hell would ever buy a mushroom with a dated date on it?!

This is too fucking funny.

How do I know if my Melba toast is still good?

I got a keenwah bowl from Wegmans the other day that made me sick as a dog. I stay away from those bowls now. Yuck.

I always look for "sell by" or "best by" or "use before" dates on my food, but I don't think I've ever seen one on packaged fresh mushrooms.

Fresh mushrooms don’t come in a package. 👽

Certain packaged salads last a bit beyond expiration date. They have to be packed in Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) with the stabilising gasses. I wouldn't push it too far though.

R3 yes. And they were reminded not to elect a grifting traitorous imbecile to the presidency again, and went right ahead and did that. So there is hope food poisoning can take out some magats, just like covid did.

Sealed Frankfurters have enough preservatives to make them last for decades

Lunch meat is one I don't play with. I never buy much in bulk from the deli because of its short shelf life.

I wish I hadn’t read this thread. I was still going to eat a package of turkey hot dogs that had expiration date of 10/2. They’re more expensive than regular dogs and I had bought them on sale. Now I’ll throw them out and get nothing for the money I wasted.

[quote] keenwah bowl

If you just got it the other day, how are you staying away from them "now"? Do you mean from now on? Also, if you bought a keenwah bowl that made you sick, it might be because you bought imitation quinoa.

dried ham lasts longer than its expiration date, if the pack is sous vide, clearly. Again I wouldn't push it but I buy last day packs of cured dry meat, salamis, etc, and eat them over the next few days.

This is my years of experience, and I am not a food safety scientist.

Yes, R17, I meant I will stay away from them from now on. It's Wegmans, it wasn't imitation, not at $12 a bowl.

r11 is very much misinformed.

Watermelon spoils quickly.

Canned foods can still be good to eat well past their expiration date.

Don't drink the burnt Champagne. If you really must lower yourself to buy Osetrova, eat it within one day of opening the jar.

R20 doesn’t get that there is no Walmart. And we are the better for it. 🤭

In Manhattan^

Walmart shoppers—see the real world on the next aisle.

"Do people really need to be reminded not to cook/eat raw meat that is spoiled??"

Yes.

Elaine—they’re all laughing at you!

[quote] If you just got it the other day, how are you staying away from them "now"?

R9 is telling you NOW, so they don't have to tell you LATER!

It really depends on where you live to some extent. It seems in Canada we have “best before” dates and you get just that one date. It’s not an expiration date although many people treat it as such.

Shit on a shingle happens…

Eat fish the day you buy? Really? I get salmon at supermarket that has a 5 day sell by date. I’ve never heard you have to eat it THAT day. Makes me suspicious of the rest of the advice.

And then the murders began…

I knew a woman who ate a mushroom one day past its expiration. She’s dead now.

Was she an Aussie?!

[quote] I knew a woman who ate a mushroom one day past its expiration. She’s dead now.

Mushrooms in Beef Wellington doesn't count!

Just fire all of the food inspectors and food poisoning will be a thing of the past.

If the FDA doesn’t issue a report, it NEVER happened.

Question: I have sealed hamburger patties and sealed pork loins from Omaha Steaks in the Freezer. Got them at Christmas two years ago.

Okay to eat or toss them?

For meat frozen way too long, the taste and texture take a massive dive. If it went into the freezer as fresh uncontaminated meat, cooking it now won't be unsafe but it may be unappetising.

[quote] Question: I have sealed hamburger patties and sealed pork loins from Omaha Steaks in the Freezer. Got them at Christmas two years ago.

[quote] Okay to eat or toss them?

Google, how long does hamburger meat last in the freezer?

A.I. Overview:

[italic]Frozen hamburger meat is safe to eat indefinitely, but for the best quality, it should be used within 3 to 4 months. Freezing prevents bacteria from growing, so the main factor in how long hamburger meat can be frozen is its quality and flavor, which can decline over time, especially due to freezer burn.

Factors Affecting Quality:

Packaging: Proper, airtight packaging prevents freezer burn and protects the quality of the meat.

Temperature: A consistently cold freezer (0°F or below) is crucial for maintaining safety and quality.

Fat Content: Ground beef with a higher fat content can go rancid faster, even when frozen.

Tips for Best Quality:

Label it: Date your hamburger meat to keep track of how long it's been in the freezer and use older portions first.

Wrap it well: Use heavy-duty plastic wrap, aluminum foil, freezer paper, or plastic bags made for freezing.

Vacuum-seal if possible: Vacuum-sealed bags are excellent for long-term storage.

Don't refreeze: Never refreeze raw ground beef that has been thawed using the microwave or cold water methods.[/italic]

Who the hell eats raw meat? Is this article written for wolves?

[quote]Dr. Cynthia Odogwu, MD

I'm going to trust a site and person who has her title listed like a chiropractor?

Or, perhaps, someone unfamiliar with the concept of a freezer (despite citing frozen meals as being okay "for a few days")?

r23 r24 I believe you may have heard of a chain called WHOLE FOODS.

And those mushrooms in the earlier post were from Sam's Club, not Walmart.

I think I knew her.

We agreed that her counsel was not relevant to our situation.

6 Foods You Should Never Eat Past The Expiration Date

1. Rotten meat.

2. Rotten fish.

3. Rotten fungus.

4. Rotten anything.

5. Poop.

6. Road kill past its expiration date.

Anything loaded with salt or sugar is well preserved.

If you fill a spray bottle that has a mist setting with Everclear, you can keep your comestibles indefinitely.

R43 mushrooms aren’t meant to be wrapped. They should be stored in a paper bag.

It’s cheap QFC or Safeway mushrooms and they are bulk displayed - with no expiration date. I grab them with my filthy fingers and then take them home where I give them a water rinse.

I don’t own vegetable wash and I’m not throwing soap on them. My spaghetti sauce needs oyster mushrooms. And a bit of anchovies as well as a pinch of fennel.

Wondering if this is the cause of my UTI. Damn, I love oyster mushrooms.

People who post AI answers on DL should be squirted with lighter fluid and then set on fire.

^ ate a bad mushroom.

I'll eat older brie and other soft cheeses if they still taste okay. Same with mini portobellas if they're not starting to shrivel. I'm still here, bitches.

You can eat Gaines Burgers past their expiration date. Same with Ken-l Ration biscuits.

What about Chuckwagon?

[quote] Do people really need to be reminded not to cook/eat raw meat that is spoiled??

No! Don't give it to your dog either.

r3 - Nothing in the article is new. A complete waste of time.