Rancid Saltine Crackers

Same thing just happened to me. I grabbed the box of crackers out of the cabinet and remember thinking, what's that weird smell? Then I opened up one sleeve of the sealed saltines and the smell just about knocked me over. I couldn't get them in the trash fast enough.
 
I’ve noticed the BB date on crackers, not just saltines, is pretty accurate. At holiday season, I tend to overbuy when they’re on sale. Now I taste a cracker before eating. If it tastes off, the BB date confirms it. Oil goes rancid.
 

Jules said:
I’ve noticed the BB date on crackers, not just saltines, is pretty accurate. At holiday season, I tend to overbuy when they’re on sale. Now I taste a cracker before eating. If it tastes off, the BB date confirms it. Oil goes rancid.
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I think we should all pay attention to the BB date - you're right that oil goes rancid, and I also think that they put fewer preservatives in foods than they did back in the day. I try to check the dates when I'm at the store, and if I know that we realistically won't eat it before the BB day, I just don't buy it. My friend got really sick to her stomach from eating cookies that were well past their date.
 
Jaiden said:
we should all pay attention to the BB date
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There’s been a push to get rid of BB dates because people were throwing away food that may have been fine to eat. It was suggested that we go by taste. IMO, I want the dates. Now I’m trying to write the date I open it on a package. Sometimes products deteriorate prior to the BB date if they’ve been open for a long time.
 
Verisure said:
I remember the days of imminent nuclear war looming - thanks a lot for that John Kennedy! - and besides "ducking and covering" beneath the ink-well appointed school desks people were digging bomb shelters and stocking them with the necessities. One of those necessities was saltine crackers that (if properly stored) would be good to eat (just like C-rations) after God knows how many years. So, I think everyone is in agreement: A hole in the packaging allowing air and odour to penetrate the goods is your problem. Are there doubts from anyone?
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Yes I stored them in their unopened package and in a gallon size instant coffee creamer container opened it took out crackers opened a pack the chemical smell was over whelming went ahead tasted them thinking it was just me well tasted chemically also have whole box of chemical crackers red s t I'll thr ok w also same thing with some cold cereal nam we lay colosiel berry
 
Michael Z said:
We bought some extra boxes of macaroni and cheese and kept them in the basement where there was a smell of fuel oil from both our oil burning hot water heater and oil furnace. Within a few months the macaroni had a tainted smell and taste as it absorbed the smell and we had to throw them out. We eventually ditched both of those filthy appliances as well!

Perhaps the same thing might have happened with these crackers?
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I am looking at this thread because just tonight I took some saltines out of my cupboard to add to my meatloaf and they also had this horrible chemical smell. They were wrapped in their original wax paper, then in a zip lock bag and then in a plastic container. They smelled toxic. I have had a hard time buying saltines that aren't stale for the last couple years. I had kept these stale tasting ones to use for meatloaf or as breading on fish or chicken. They have been in my kitchen for a few months where it is not damp and my home is all electric except my propane furnace, which is in a finished and well lived in basement. I am in my 70s and have never encountered anything like this. I had to put them in the garage as we were feeling like they could make us sick to smell them. BTW I have found that Kellog's makes a saltine and I am on my second box. They are fresh not stale.
 
I have had old peanut butter, potato chips, saltine crackers, plus many more packaged foods that all had the exact smell. It will burn your nose and reminds me of varnish. All of this stuff had been in my cabinets for a year or more. And think age is the problem. I can also remember at least one can of vegetables that smelled the same. If you smell it, you can't keep it.
 
Sept 18, 2023 - Same thing here. I used the same words "paint thinner" smell. I opened up two new sleeves but the odor was so strong I had to remove them from the house. I love Saltines and have eaten them all my life. Never had this smell before. Something isn't right.
 
I noticed crackers tasted moldy not long after they stopped using trans fat in foods. As far as I understand it, trans fat is more shelf stable and doesn't go bad as fast, which is why crackers don't have the same flavor or consistency as they used to.
 
Same here. Opened a sleeve of crackers and just about lost my cookies from the smell. Went straight in the garbage.

I've started making my own bread crumbs too. I got tired of stale tasting bread crumbs from a freshly opened can.
 


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