Do you pay attention to 'expiration' dates on products?

When I was growing up the worry was botulism from canned food. We learned to examine the cans carefully for any dints from rough handling or signs of bloating from internal gases. Mushrooms were another food that required care to avoid being poisoned. We ate jams and pickles, dehydrated and salted foods but bread and milk were delivered fresh daily.

I consider used by dates to be merely advisory but have no qualms about eating things that are out of date unless they have become spoiled or have lost their flavour.

My gut is pretty robust when it comes to dealing with bacteria. I trained it early by picking up dropped food and eating fruit picked fresh from the trees. I'm told that as a toddler is shared my food with the dog on a "bite for you and a bite for me" basis.
 

fuzzybuddy said:
I got sick and spent a month+ touring local hospitals, in 2018. When I finally got home, I figured the fridge would be one giant mold. Opened the door, and nada-nothing. Most of the food was still edible. Since, then I don't pay attention to expiration dates, I let the food tell me when it's no good. And that's pretty obvious. I use bottled water, (too much iron in my well water), there's an expiration date on the bottle- really when was the last time water spoiled?
Do you pay attention to 'expiration' dates on products?
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I'm going to tell you, it was a shock to me to find water had spoiled. I'd bought a crate of 1/2 litre bottles of still water. I used a bottle at my bedside every night.. and the bottle normally lasts 3 days...

last summer, I went to take a drink on the second day and it was clearly bad..I was shocked, I had no idea water could spoil..but this was vile. .
 
In our Kroger bakery, we mark down products the day before the expiration date both that we bake ourselves and those that come prepackaged from the vendor. Most of the products we bake ourselves have a shelf life of three days. When I get any of those that won't be used that day or the next day, they go in the freezer. The prepackaged products expire anywhere from five to 28 days, and they usually have preservatives of some sort in them. The store-baked ones don't have preservatives.

Produce is marked down the day before expiration, too.

@debodun Try keeping citrus in your fridge and blanching other produce (veggies) before refrigerating.
 

Can I use an FDA-authorized at-home COVID-19 diagnostic test that is expired? (7/14/23)​


A: The expiration date for an at-home COVID-19 diagnostic test may be extended beyond the date printed on the outer box or package as additional stability data is collected. You can check the Expiration Date column of the List of Authorized At-Home OTC COVID-19 Diagnostic Tests to see if the expiration date for your at-home OTC COVID-19 test has been extended and how to find any new expiration date.


The FDA does not recommend using at-home COVID-19 diagnostic tests beyond their authorized expiration dates, which, as noted above, may go beyond the date printed on the box. COVID-19 tests and the parts they are made of may degrade, or break down, over time. Because of this, expired test kits could give inaccurate or invalid test results.
 
hollydolly said:
I'm going to tell you, it was a shock to me to find water had spoiled. I'd bought a crate of 1/2 litre bottles of still water. I used a bottle at my bedside every night.. and the bottle normally lasts 3 days...

last summer, I went to take a drink on the second day and it was clearly bad..I was shocked, I had no idea water could spoil..but this was vile. .
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It starts to grow mold after its opened.
 
No, but it depends. I mean, a can of baked beans a month over - who cares? A loaf of bread a year out of date? Yeah.

If your water is going bad, then it's not pure water. Pure water stays fresh forever. Literally. But things inside the water can go bad.
 
VaughanJB said:
No, but it depends. I mean, a can of baked beans a month over - who cares? A loaf of bread a year out of date? Yeah.

If your water is going bad, then it's not pure water. Pure water stays fresh forever. Literally. But things inside the water can go bad.
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Opening a bottle of water introduces contaminants from the air, and from your mouth if you drink from it.
 
I am meticulous about use by dates because I just don't want to get sick. Also about defrosting and cleaning my fridge to ensure it works well. Food poisoning is just not worth it.
I also check my pantry and cupboard foods regularly to throw out or replace expired items. The best way I know is to only buy just enough, not much extra stocks.
 
I often get confused by "use by" vs "sell by" dated. Especially on products such as milk...which I do not use a lot of, unless I am going through a cereal phase. I do not keep milk long after dates, since itis hard to be sure how long after Sell by dates they are still good.
 
I am pretty good about checking dates and rotating items in the pantry. I don't much care for milk and usually end up throwing a lot of it away, even though I get small bottle for cooking. Fresh, ripe produce stays in the fridge, except for potatoes. If I am concerned about eggs past their date I do the "float test". If they float I throw them away,
 
For products with a known spoiling date, yes...milk, meat, orange juice, bread, etc.

But many products liked canned goods, spices, dry flavor packets have a shelf life that helps the store workers know its time to more proactively move the product through sales strategies.
 
hollydolly said:
Because of this, expired test kits could give inaccurate or invalid test results.
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The precautions printed on the box states that both false positives and false negatives are possible. For this reason I don't use them. They never really tell you anything. Their precautions mean - "don't rely" on the test results. So why use them?
 
Marie5656 said:
I often get confused by "use by" vs "sell by" dated. Especially on products such as milk...which I do not use a lot of, unless I am going through a cereal phase. I do not keep milk long after dates, since itis hard to be sure how long after Sell by dates they are still good.
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Just a suggestion: Since you don't use milk much but, only during cereal phases have you ever tried using instant non-fat dry milk? Then you can make up only as much as you need each time. I know it tastes funny when drunk by itself. But, when mixed with cereal and all the stuff in cereal its taste is passable. Then you won't have to buy fresh milk at all.
 
DebraMae said:
I am pretty good about checking dates and rotating items in the pantry. I don't much care for milk and usually end up throwing a lot of it away, even though I get small bottle for cooking. Fresh, ripe produce stays in the fridge, except for potatoes. If I am concerned about eggs past their date I do the "float test". If they float I throw them away,
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Have never heard about the float test. Thank you for the info. With respect to your low use of milk since you only use it in cooking have you ever thought of using instant non-fat dry milk. Reconstituted it does taste funny. But, when used to mix with foods as in cooking or eating cold cereal its funny taste gets well covered. This way you only make what you need and don't have to throw out the rest.
 
Wes said:
Have never heard about the float test. Thank you for the info. With respect to your low use of milk since you only use it in cooking have you ever thought of using instant non-fat dry milk. Reconstituted it does taste funny. But, when used to mix with foods as in cooking or eating cold cereal its funny taste gets well covered. This way you only make what you need and don't have to throw out the rest. If the taste of dry milk is too revolting you can also add a bit of evaporated milk to it. The rest of the evap milk you can keep for a very long time in the fridge. It lasts a long time.
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oldaunt said:
She also said she left it sitting to use over 2-3 days.....
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I've never experienced a bottle of water going off after 2 or 3 days. I don't doubt there was a problem, but likely something bad when those bottles were made. IMO.
 
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