little spot or Do you pay much attention to expirations dates?

[enjoy the ride]

Especially on canned goods? What about produce with a little bit on rot?

Tonight I used 3/08 tomato sauce with a slightly spotted bell pepper (cutting away the bad parts) to make my now favorite sloppy joe. I going to love it I'm sure but I wondered if anyone ever really had a problem with commercial products over age but looking just fine?

 

[PamsPride]

I wouldn't know...I NEVER look at the expiration date! DH looks at the milk and keeps track of that.

 

[me&thegals]

Not too much, unless my sister is visiting--she of the eagle eye for expiration dates. When she gets going, family fridges can be emptied in a matter of minutes!

I actually even cut mold off cheese and use it. I hate throwing food away!

 

[Wifezilla]

Don't look. I smell things

 

[punkin]

Meat & dairy - I do pay very close attention to that. If it's out of date, it goes to the dogs or chickens. Not worth us getting sick.

Produce - sure, I'll cut out rotten spots

Canned goods - not so much, but a year out of date? Nope, not me.

 

[unclejoe]

I actually even cut mold off cheese and use it. I hate throwing food away!

I do the same thing. Becky expects to find me dead on the floor some day from food poisoning.

 

[Homesteadmom]

I cut the mold off cheese too. Dairy products depends on how they look or smell, if they have mold then out they go or if they are way past their date I take no chances. Canned goods are good forever past the date. The dates are a marketing strategy to get people to throw it out & buy new. I came across an article one time in a magazine & I wish I could remember which one it was as there was a online link to the story too. If a company follows all the safety procedures & seals the food properly then it is good almost indefinately it said. As long as the can is not damaged or the top swollen. For vegies if possible cut off the bad spot & use the rest!

 

[curly_kate]

I usually give dairy a couple of days past the date. I'll give canned goods a try, although I tried to eat tomato soup that was about 2 years past its date - nasty! I cut the bad spots off fruits & veggies & will cook with them. I learned my lesson w/bread tho. I thought I had cut off the moldy bit, and put a slice in the toaster. It smelled like I was toasting an old sponge!

 

[homestead jenna]

Don't look. I smell things

Not all food pathogens give off odors. Even for milk.

Expirations dates depend on a lot of variable and, for canned stuff, only means a deterioration in texture, taste or nutritive value.

 

[patandchickens]

For canned goods I don't pay much attention to expiry dates. I probably wouldn't eat something 5 years out of date, unless it was the last food around, but, you know I am under the impression that the expiry date on cans just means "if you use it later than that, don't come whining to us if the color/flavor/texture are not what they should be". I've eaten canned beans and canned corn that were 3 yrs old - I put them in soup and they seemed just fine. Canned campbell's soup that was 3 years old did not taste so great, kind of metallic and flat, but at least on a one-time basis did not kill me

Dairy and meat have to pass the sniff test and be not more than a day or two past their date.

For myself I cut small moldy pieces off cheese and scoop small moldy areas off jelly/jam, but I avoid feeding the results to other people, since there are *some* molds whose toxins can permeate the rest of the product and I'd prefer to err on the side of caution when feeding others.

I cut small moldy or rotty bits off produce no problem and use the rest. Do this all the time, NEVER had any identifiable problem from it. However if much/most of the item has gone weird, or if the parts that are not moldy or soft are still somehow 'not right', I compost it.

Pat