Social Do food expiration dates really matter?

[ralphc1]

Do food or any expiration dates really matter? Are they even expiration dates? Some items have a date but nothing that says it is an expiration date. They are probably more of a date to compare to other product to tell which is older. They probably don't want to put production dates on because people will think its an expiration date so they put a date on that is a certain time after it was produced. I've seen milk with a production date saying that it should be used within 2 weeks of the date on the container and some people will go through the containers to find the latest date.

I know people who are very picky about dates on anything from food to bandages. If something is one day beyond the date on the package, they toss it. Most dates are sell by dates and the product is good beyond those dates. Some dates are just to cover the manufacturer and some aren't even expiration dates but are simply put on the product to keep track of when it was produced. Some are "Best if used by" dates. I opened a can of peaches that I bought last summer and it was stamped "Best if used by September 1 2024.

Yesterday I decided I wanted some toast with strawberry jam. I've had some Smuckers strawberry preserves in my refrigerator for a while so I put some bread in the toaster and grabbed the jar. It was still factory sealed with the plastic wrap on the lid. I knew it had been in my refrigerator for some time. The date on the label was 94. The center of the lid was still down meaning it still held a vacuum which was released when I unscrewed the lid. It seemed fine so I used it.

I've used canned soup that was over 20 years old. As long as the cans hold the vacuum I figure they're good.

The first aid kits we had at work had expiration dates on everything so it was cheaper to replace the entire thing that to replace each item. I brought the expired things home and used them. Do bandages really go bad? Even the tape still works well. I didn't see any reason to throw them away but OSHA checks thing like that. We had eye wash stations that used water in plastic bags that had an expiration date of 2 years and cost $100 for refills for each station.

I have encountered canned items that no longer hold a vacuum that went bad but in most cases, the shelf life seems to be much longer that the dates on the cans.

How concerned are you about date codes on items?

 

[hohner]

No way man, eat whatever you want. Your stomach will let you know if food wasn't good anymore.

 

[Zinger]

I go straight for the expiring food in the grocery store.

I cut costs wherever I can.

 

[Chad fury]

Look at it, sniff it.

This is good methodology for many situations

 

[Batjester]

Look at it, sniff it.

This is good methodology for many situations

Insert vagina joke here.

 

[monkeyrhythm]

Look at it, sniff it.

This is good methodology for many situations

Generally not job interviews. Or meeting the other half's parents for the first time.

 

[Pliny Pete]

I dont care about food expiration dates, you can look at food and smell it to tell if its good or not, its pretty obvious and easy to see
People waste so much food and money just because they follow some stupid random date on a piece of plastic

 

[goatfarmer]

Who the F keeps cans of soup for 20 year?

 

[Simple Southerner]

 

[Noveltymortar]

Expiration dates just mean that the manufacturer is claiming that the product will be good at least until that date, but it doesn't mean that they necessarily know when it actually goes bad.

 

[Two Crows]

It depends on what we are talking, and how far past the date it is.

I saw a TV show (can't remember which) that covered all sorts of food situations. They'd ask 3 couples questions like "When should you throw out frozen chicken?" and crap like that. The answers were from some microbiology PhD.

Frozen? If it's actually kept freezing, it's essentially good forever.

Canned? If the can is undamaged, it's essentially good forever.

I don't remember the guidelines for dried foods.


P.S. I learned from that show cooked rice has one of the fastest bacteria growth rates of any food, and you should almost "re-cook" that shit if it's been in your fridge for even 24 hours.

 

[MeatWagon06]

A friend of my family pasted away early last year, and he had 3 cases of Premier Protein shakes that say best by April 2020. I’m still drinking that shit. Sometimes they’re a little chunky but are still delicious.

 

[SuwoopBangin]

Dairy and meat is all I look at expiration dates for

 

[Damo321]

20 year old soup and jam in your fridge dated 1994..... food banks give homeless people fresher food than you have!

 

[skarface]

Dairy and meat is all I look at expiration dates for

^^^this

 

[Fluffernutter]

Best by date? Sure.
Sell by date? Sure.
Expiration date? No.

 

[Fedorgasm]

My wife throws out food as soon as it hits the expiration date or even the best by date.

It pisses me off. I understand milk or dairy products, but she'll toss bread, crackers, chips, even ramen noodles. Bread can get stale but you can still use it for french toast or something as long as it's not moldy.

We're always fighting about it.

She acts like the date on the package magically turns the food to poison on that day.

 

[CrimsonFan]

Depends on what it is

 

[Mark McMichael]

Depends on the food item but in the food items where they do matter, they are guidelines and not absolutes.

I laugh at people who treat them as if they are absolutes and will eat a food one day as if ok but not touch it the next, as if toxic the very next day simply because it passed it a date.

My first career job was with a nut company and expiration dates were just then being added to pretty much all foods when pretty much they were only for foods like dairy prior.

Tinned nuts, vacuum sealed were considered a war pantry fod. Put it away and forget it for up to 2 years and as long as the vacuum sealed held, no problem.

We loved putting expiration sates on it as it then scared people in to throwing them out early and then buying more. At first we put a year. Then to boost sales changed that to 6 months. I think they put 3 months now to the retailers cannot just leave them on the shelves and must order more.

In many cases the date they choose is tied solely to Marketing and the Sales cycle and has little to do with freshness.

 

[Pizza Werewolf]

Its more of a guideline.
Too many things are a factor.