Social Do food expiration dates really matter?

I have some 10+ year old Nature Valley peanut butter granola bars that I was still considering whether to eat or not the other day
 
It’s not that the expiration date doesn’t matter. Not everything is just binary, black and white, matters or doesn’t matter. Seeing the world through such an overly simplistic lens is going to hold you back in life.

Does the expiration date being passed automatically mean you should throw out the food? No. But you can bet it will need to be thrown out very soon. If not, have fun shutting your pants and throwing up.

The expiration date is a helpful way of letting you know for approximately how long the food you buy is going to last. It isn’t 100% accurate all the time. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter what the expiration date is.
 
This is an interesting topic to me.

My mom will throw away left overs if they've been out more than an hour which is ridiculous.

My perspective changed on this when I lived with some Filipino women in my 20s. They'd leave a cooked chicken on the counter and would still eat it 3 days later.

This woman in the Philippines collects McDonald's leftovers from the dumpster and recooks it to sell on the street. I've never tried this so I can't attest to the freshness and quality of it.



This old lady on hoarders takes this to the extreme where it's definitely entering, if not fully in, the disgusting stage.



Cans and tins kept in a cool dry place can last indefinitely. I have quite a few cases of spam, tuna, chicken, and other food cans stored in bins that I keep on hand just in case. If steve1989mreinfo can safely eat meat from a cow that lived in the 19th century, you're probably safe with spam that's only a few decades old.

Just make sure the tin isn't bulged and that it passes the sniff test.

 
They matter if it's your job requirement.

Many people eat certain foods past the expired date. I do sometimes and get food poisioning shortly after, if my body can't handle it.
 
Chicken and seafood last many months in the fridge, ts. Don't throw those away
 
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My mum was pretty lax when I was younger. She wouldn’t throw stuff out unless it was obviously bad l and liked to remind me of the difference between best before and expiration date.
With the exception of frozen sausages I don’t buy processed meats so I can always tell by smell or texture before cooking. The same goes for so many foods, especially dairy, just smell the damn thing. I hate wasting food.
 
Fungilicious82 said:
Why do you have 27 year old jelly in your fridge? How many new fridges and jelly transfers into new fridge have you done, possibly one more new home in said jelly jars life?
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I've had the same refrigerator since I built this house in 1978.
 
Pushing the limits of food expiration probably explains my vigorous immune system.
 
Bad rice and seafood can kill you (or make you wish you were dead) so I dont risk that at all

Dairy just smells and tastes bad, good luck to anyone wanting to eat and drink that. Meat should be fine as long as it's cooked thoroughly. I went to a food market in rural Thailand, I almost had the Tom Tits just looking at how long they keep and how they store meat.
 
Well I've eaten protein bars six months after expiry and they seemed exactly the same.

Depends on the food I guess.
 
ralphc1 said:
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?
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Yes they fricken matter
<JagsKiddingMe>
The phucks the matter with you? lol
 
I would have thrown out that smuckers somewhere around 1998 after getting tired of looking at it if I weren't using it.
 
i would say they matter for certain foods or if they're canned or properly sealed. try getting oj and drink it a few days before it's expiration date and you'll notice a huge difference in the taste and quality in comparison to oj that's fresh.
 
Fedorgasm said:
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.
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Your wife sir...im sure she's awesome, but she likes to waste money?

Ramen is good for at least a year.
Bread gets yeasty after a week, but like you said...french toast anyone? Lol
 
Dates are important for certain foods, especially dairy products
 
Depends. Expired or best before date?

For dairy and meat it does which is prob an expire date. But for best before, for the most part it's due to stocking purposes. Taste that exceeds that best before date is still edible but looses the "pop" it started with, I'm referring to dry foods and canned.
 
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