Expired food? How long until you won't eat it?

[NetWareHead]

Inspired by this article http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/11/08/what-does-expiration-date-really-mean/

What is your tolerance for expired food before you are too afraid to touch it? Personally I have eaten expired plenty of times. Even stuff that is 1 or 2 years past in a can. Open it up and it was still good.

Fresh produce you can tell with your eyes if it is on its way out. Meat and fish the same way and it begins to smell bad.

Bread and cheese, if it has a moldy corner or side, I can just cut that off as long as the rest is not blemished.

 

[nageov3t]

dry goods -- generally I'll eat it until it starts tasting stale or (bread) develops mold. I won't cut the mold off and use the rest unless I'm in a truly desperate place.

produce -- touch/smell test

meat/fish -- I'll go by the expiration date with ground meat, but otherwise I'll rely on touch and smell (and when in doubt, throw it out)

with a hard cheese, I'll cut the mold off and use the rest; soft cheese goes in the trash once I see mold, though.

 

[poopaskoopa]

Probably 5 years. For the dried/packaged food like the ones I take to camping, I didn't think twice about it when they were like 2 yrs past their dates, but last year I got a mouthful of chocolate-flavored energy gel that was expired in 2008 and.. Well… it's so gross and strange to taste something that's both chocolatey and rotten at the same time.

 

[nickbits]

Smells or looks bad. I don't use dates.

 

[vi edit]

"Andrea Grondhal, director of meat inspection with the North Dakota Department of Agriculture"

*snicker*

Wonder how much grief she gets for that title.

 

[smackababy]

I go by whatever my GF wishes, which is the date, despite me saying "sell by" doesn't mean it is garbage that day. She buys the food with her money though, so whatever.

Generally, though, if it is frozen right after purchase and then thawed later, we go probably 4 days max before it goes in the trash. At least, for meats. We don't really freeze anything else. I suppose all other products that don't have a date are when they either look to be in a poor state or have mold. Food doesn't go very long anyway, as we shop every week.

 

[Jaskalas]

dry goods -- generally I'll eat it until it starts tasting stale or (bread) develops mold. I won't cut the mold off and use the rest unless I'm in a truly desperate place.

produce -- touch/smell test

meat/fish -- I'll go by the expiration date with ground meat, but otherwise I'll rely on touch and smell (and when in doubt, throw it out)

with a hard cheese, I'll cut the mold off and use the rest; soft cheese goes in the trash once I see mold, though.

Solid. :thumbsup:

 

[gorcorps]

"Andrea Grondhal, director of meat inspection with the North Dakota Department of Agriculture"

*snicker*

Wonder how much grief she gets for that title.

makes you wonder if the guys were too embarrassed to even apply for the job

 

[pandaga]

Depends if it smells/looks bad or not. If so then definitely no go.

 

[bignateyk]

I ate a rack of vacuum sealed ribs 4 months past expiration and it tasted fine...

 

[smackababy]

I ate a rack of vacuum sealed ribs 4 months past expiration and it tasted fine...

I ate some bread late one night, without turning the light on (made a sandwich), and in the morning I went to make toast and the bread was almost completely covered in mold. I didn't notice anything strange in taste, and felt fine.

 

[lxskllr]

I don't have firm rules. Everything has to pass a smell/taste test. If that passes, I eat it. I've eaten canned goods that were several years old, and they were fine. I've also had some that tasted like can. If it's too can-like, I won't eat it.

 

[Aikouka]

makes you wonder if the guys were too embarrassed to even apply for the job

"Sir, do you have any prior experience?"
"Just a few decades!"

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Expiration dates are guidelines. Best if used by dates are ignored. I trust my own senses first.

 

[Kaido]

Yeah, I go by results, not necessarily dates.

Although I once a a roommate who would literally scrape green mold off fried chicken and then eat it. Cold. Freshly scraped.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Depends what it is. Meat I don't mess around, maybe a couple days max. (frozen, practically forever, use the day after I take it out)

Other stuff really depends.

I can confirm that soda crackers (not sure if that's actually what they're called. It's those square things you put in soup) start to taste pretty nasty after 3-4 years past the expiry. Why do they make some products in such large quantities? Not everyone has 10 people in their household!

Bread, I can't even buy, you only really get a few days out of it before it molds, and there's no way I will finish a loaf of bread or pack of buns by myself in such short time. The few times that I've craved a hot dog and bought buns I ended up having to waste more than half of them as they started to look pretty funky after 3 days. Even day 2 is kinda iffy.

Though, I need to try an experiment now that I have a DSLR... moldy bread time lapse!

 

[mikeford]

I like an odd brand of margarine nobody else in the family eats. I am currently using a tub I found in the back of the fridge dated 5 years ago.

OTOH diet soda goes bad fast, the stuff with splenda sweetener.

I ate a 3 year old frozen chicken pie last week, wasn't very good.

Sometime in the 90's I bought commercial sized can of dried soup mix at Costco, opened it and started using it about six months ago.

Crackers can stay good a long time, but must be kept dry.

 

[nageov3t]

Bread, I can't even buy, you only really get a few days out of it before it molds, and there's no way I will finish a loaf of bread or pack of buns by myself in such short time. The few times that I've craved a hot dog and bought buns I ended up having to waste more than half of them as they started to look pretty funky after 3 days. Even day 2 is kinda iffy.

Though, I need to try an experiment now that I have a DSLR... moldy bread time lapse!

bread freezes pretty well, imo... when I buy a big pack of sliced bread, I'll divide it into 4 sections, wrap 3 up in saran wrap/foil, and freeze it. eat the 4th quarter fresh, and then take more from the freezer as needed.

 

[TwiceOver]

The wife decides what goes and what stays. Generally unopened items past expiration I'll at least open and take a shot at. Opened items past expiration, yeah I'll look at them. Cooked food gets 3 days, then it is gone.

 

[velillen]

Meats ill go a couple days past the sell by date. I actually buy a majority of my meats from the reduced for quick sale section. Half off for steaks just cause its "sell by" date is today. Ive bought plenty and put quite a bit in the freezer. Had it months later and its fine.

Bread and cheese stays in the fridge for me. Breads lasts longer it seems like. Other than that once it molds i toss it.

Canned/Dried goods - Once they taste bad/mold/go stale they get tossed. Hell just opened a box of honey nut cheerios that was a year expired...tasted just fine. Though it did seem to go stale a lot faster than normal

 

[Kaido]

The wife decides what goes and what stays. Generally unopened items past expiration I'll at least open and take a shot at. Opened items past expiration, yeah I'll look at them. Cooked food gets 3 days, then it is gone.

We switched to a Ziploc system a couple years back. Basically, everything in the fridge goes in a Ziploc bag to avoid any bad smells & mess when it goes bad or gets spilled. If it's something that we're not sure of (like when ground beef turns brown & smells nasty), we just write the expiration or purchase date on the bag with a Sharpie marker. The new bags have a neat little zipper instead of the moronic press-to-seal garbage:

http://www.ziploc.com/Products/Page...BagsSmartZipSeal.aspx?SizeName=Quart (Freezer)

I only buy the freezer kind so I don't have to worry about where it goes (and they're heavier-duty, so they don't break as much as the regular ones do). Lunchbox-sized sandwich bags, quart-sized, and gallon-sized. Hefty has the same style. We also have some containers (SmartSpin containers, which are like Tupperware but all of the lids are the same) for stuff we don't want squished in bags.

Keeps the fridge super clean, although it's a little more expensive than normal because you have to buy the good bags, and it's a little more effort because you have to chuck stuff in bags every time you get home from shopping at the grocery store, but the payoff is that you never have to clean the fridge (EVER!) and you don't get any old food stinking up your kitchen since it's all sealed.

 

[waggy]

We switched to a Ziploc system a couple years back. Basically, everything in the fridge goes in a Ziploc bag to avoid any bad smells & mess when it goes bad or gets spilled. If it's something that we're not sure of (like when ground beef turns brown & smells nasty), we just write the expiration or purchase date on the bag with a Sharpie marker. The new bags have a neat little zipper instead of the moronic press-to-seal garbage:

http://www.ziploc.com/Products/Page...BagsSmartZipSeal.aspx?SizeName=Quart (Freezer)

I only buy the freezer kind so I don't have to worry about where it goes (and they're heavier-duty, so they don't break as much as the regular ones do). Lunchbox-sized sandwich bags, quart-sized, and gallon-sized. Hefty has the same style. We also have some containers (SmartSpin containers, which are like Tupperware but all of the lids are the same) for stuff we don't want squished in bags.

Keeps the fridge super clean, although it's a little more expensive than normal because you have to buy the good bags, and it's a little more effort because you have to chuck stuff in bags every time you get home from shopping at the grocery store, but the payoff is that you never have to clean the fridge (EVER!) and you don't get any old food stinking up your kitchen since it's all sealed.

yeah we do the same system.

keeps the fridge clean and smelling good

 

[velillen]

We switched to a Ziploc system a couple years back. Basically, everything in the fridge goes in a Ziploc bag to avoid any bad smells & mess when it goes bad or gets spilled. If it's something that we're not sure of (like when ground beef turns brown & smells nasty), we just write the expiration or purchase date on the bag with a Sharpie marker. The new bags have a neat little zipper instead of the moronic press-to-seal garbage:

http://www.ziploc.com/Products/Page...BagsSmartZipSeal.aspx?SizeName=Quart (Freezer)

I only buy the freezer kind so I don't have to worry about where it goes (and they're heavier-duty, so they don't break as much as the regular ones do). Lunchbox-sized sandwich bags, quart-sized, and gallon-sized. Hefty has the same style. We also have some containers (SmartSpin containers, which are like Tupperware but all of the lids are the same) for stuff we don't want squished in bags.

Keeps the fridge super clean, although it's a little more expensive than normal because you have to buy the good bags, and it's a little more effort because you have to chuck stuff in bags every time you get home from shopping at the grocery store, but the payoff is that you never have to clean the fridge (EVER!) and you don't get any old food stinking up your kitchen since it's all sealed.

I do the same a lot of times (i buy lots of bulk meat so has to go into something after opening. I refuse to pay the premium for a name brand so picked up these "zip loc" bags instead
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They are just as thick as zip loc, seal up well, and cost a fraction of the cost. (i linked the smaller ones i have but they have all sorts of sizes). They dont leak and the smell stays inside. Have held up to reuse pretty dang well too. Ones that just hold cheese ive used 7 or 8 times now

I do the same with the containers for things to no be squished.


But speaking of cleaning the fridge..i really need to do that. My roommate isnt as...careful as i am and im sure she has shit in there thats growing stuff by now

 

[bignateyk]

Meats ill go a couple days past the sell by date. I actually buy a majority of my meats from the reduced for quick sale section. Half off for steaks just cause its "sell by" date is today. Ive bought plenty and put quite a bit in the freezer. Had it months later and its fine.

Bread and cheese stays in the fridge for me. Breads lasts longer it seems like. Other than that once it molds i toss it.

Canned/Dried goods - Once they taste bad/mold/go stale they get tossed. Hell just opened a box of honey nut cheerios that was a year expired...tasted just fine. Though it did seem to go stale a lot faster than normal

Yeah I do the same. The grocery store around us usually marks them down around Tuesday each week, so I go in and get USDA Prime Ribeyes/Filets for half price.

 

[JManInPhoenix]

If it's past its expiration date, it gets chucked. If it smells or looks bad, it gets chucked.