As we all know, a good way to save is to have as little wasted resources as possible, and this is probably truest in food. The problem is that no matter how much you plan there will always be irregularities in schedule or mood so eventually some food will reach expiration date without being used or finished. As a rule of thumb, I try and ignore the expiration date on items I know would be relatively safe like biscuits but I wouldn't do it with milk because I know wasting a few drops of it would ultimately cost me less than what it would if I got sick from it. Sometimes, if I'm sure I'll be able able to eat the food immediately, I will go for food products near the best before date for a discount. Do you guys do this as well? What food products do you find okay to do eat past the expiration date and which ones do you avoid? Which products do you often see at your groceries going for sale due to being near the end date?
Here in Canada we don't have expiry dates, we have "best before" dates. There is no standard as to what information these to use. I find everything is good past that date. I just use the sniff test, if it smells toss it out!
Things like chips, cans, cookies and even sweets are usually fine. I tend to ignore them too unless they are past a year. My dad found a pancake mix that was 2 years old and it was fine as it was flour, salt and some bicarbonate of soda. I am careful though with any drinks and even if something has a date on it and has not expired or the best before date hasn't passed, I still check it in case. It can happen if something isn't stored correctly.
Packaged food that doesn't have to be refrigerated is usually fine in my book. I recently got a great deal on pre workout bars on ebay because they were expired. They taste and work great! Don't let yourself miss out because of an expiration date!
I don't ever ignore expiration dates. Even on non-refrigerated goods, I almost always use the product before it actually goes bad. And if it did, I don't buying it again if I actually need to use it or not. If it expired, it's not something I probably use all that much. I think just using common sense on expired goods is a good basis though on most things. If it smells/looks to be okay, then it's probably okay to use.
I usually follow the best before date but it all depends on what I am eating. If its milk, eggs, meat or chicken I will never eat it once the best before date has passed. Cereal, sweets, canned food, chips even bread is fine to eat after the expiry date. If your ever unsure the sniff test is always helpful as well.
If it's something that is supposed to be jkept refrigerated, like meat and dairy, I'll give it a miss if it's out of date. Dried and packaged goods are fine for a couple of months afterwards though, although I try and keep a check on the dates on the food at home, just to ensure that it does all get eaten up whilst it's still at its optimum.
Canned veggies were one that I was never really sure of. Good to know they are safe to eat. Thanks for the info!
I agree that packaged foods are still safe to eat even if it's way past the expiration date, like cereals for example. Anything that's dry would be quite safe to eat. If the food is liquid or moist in consistency, then those are more sensitive and you must throw them away at the slightest difference in taste or smell.
Most dry goods like cereal are still okay after the expiration date. But if you get a good deal on milk and you want to prolong its life, you can freeze it and it'll still be good when it's thawed out. I also freeze bread sometimes. Even frozen things expire eventually, but freezing foods gives you a longer window of time to use them.
I tend not to ignore the expiration dates, even on breads, snacky-type foods and such. I live in a very humid environment, so things can go moldy pretty quickly. Canned foods don’t really go bad, but I’m concerned about BPA so I try to avoid them. These days I try to consume everything before the expiration date anyway, so it’s not that much of an issue.
Yeah we tend to freeze hamburgers because they go bad quick. The only problem with freezing things is a freezer is so small and when you have things like ice pop ice cream and frozen dinners there's only so much refrigerated items you can put in there. I've tried to be less paranoid about expiration dates. I tend to want to throw it out if anything's past the date but I don't like wasting stuff. If it's things like dairy or meat you can't be too careful but my goat's milk was a few days past the best by date and it smelled/tasted okay. I was able to sleep okay last night and aside from my usual digestive pains I haven't got any signs so it must not have hurt me. I am thinking that goat's milk is safer with that than cow's milk. I agree that dry things should be okay past the date.
The only real things to be concerned with are products containing meat and fruit, I think most canned goods will be fine up to about a month or two after the expiration date, but I would not use it past that just in case. Things like sweets and packet things are not much of a worry to me.
As far as food products are concerned, I do my best to consume them on or before the expiry date. It's pretty dangerous to eat food beyond that unless you're daring enough to take the chance. For safety reasons, I'd rather not touch food that has gone past its expiry date. I'm more lenient when it comes to lotions, perfumes and non-facial beauty products.
To be honest, I really don't like to eat food that is past its expiration date, in any capacity. My stomach has enough problems as it is, without adding to it food that has expired. I can only imagine the diarrhea that I'd endure from eating stale products lol. I have eaten food that has expired on the exact same day that I have found the food, in the past, though.
It really is a best before date -- meaning, after this date, most of the time it's not that the product becomes toxic or bad, it's just that the producer cannot guarantee it will be still in the quality you bought it in. Sometimes less nutrients, a bit of a different consistence... I think it's also because the producers want to make sure they cannot be sued if something go wrong, so they put a safe date after which, it's really up to you. And as far as I'm concerned, our evolutionary senses have developed to tell us if something is moldy or rotten or bad for us. Hence, sniff test. Or a good hard look at it. If there is any doubt, throw it out. But if everything seems fine, then it usually is fine. No matter the product.
It is better to be safe than sorry, so most of the time, I don't eat/consume goods that are past their expiration dates. But I think snacks, sweets, and everything that doesn't have to be refrigerated would be fine.
