Food in your Fridge: Are you a slave to expiration dates?

[philosophie_en_rose]

Poll question: Food in your Fridge: Are you a slave to expiration dates?

I'm having an argument with my roommate about the safety of keeping foods past the dates stamped upon them. She says that I am a slave to the food companies that are just trying to get me to buy more stuff. I say she's a lunatic that will probably pass vintage milk down as a family heirloom.

What does it take for you to throw things out?

[htuttle]

1. The Nose knows best!

To be honest, however, with some stuff, my nose flunks it even before the expiration date.

[philosophie_en_rose]

5. Expiration dates are only about shelf life.

Open a bottle of ranch dressing or a container of yogurt and it's not going to last until the expiration date. Milk and egg products last only a few weeks after opening.

[Magrittes Pipe]

2. Depends what it is.

[bearfan454]

3. I clean out the icebox every Sunday.

The outside dogs LOVE Sundays.

[sus]

4. what doesn't kill me makes me stronger.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

11. Yeah, but you won't have time to learn from what DOES kill you.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

6. Expirations dates say the last date the product can be SOLD, not consumed

So yes, the Nose is the Ultimate Judge.

And it sometimes condemns things BEFORE the expiration date. :mad:

[pagerbear]

7. My fridge contains:

A bottle of wine over a year old that's never been opened
Some butter
Some half-n-half for my weekend coffee (past its expiration date)

[northzax]

8. expiration dates?

interesting. tell me more. I thought those were the first day you were supposed to consume the product, you know, like wine, an aging suggestion.

and NOW you tell me different?

[eyesroll]

9. A lot of expiration dates are arbitrary

Eggs, for instance -- the expiration date on eggs has little relationship to the actual age of the egg, and the float test works for me (stick it in a glass of water -- if it sinks, cook it).

Milk, yogurt, etc., I give a few days. Meat, maybe gets 24 hours grace.

Many condiments don't really ever expire -- their packaging does. Vinegar, for instance, will last nearly forever, and edible honey has been taken from thousands-year-old tombs, but their packages often give a year or two out. Why? The cheap plastic they're in isn't designed to last that long. But I usually ignore those dates, unless we're talking about several years.

[supernova]

10. The smell test

When I shop I try to find the furthest away experiation date I can find for that item.

If you leave it unopened, most dairy products (milk, sour cream, yogurt) are good until about 7 days after the sell by date.

Meat is iffy. I do try to stick to the expiration dates. If I'm not going to cook it within 24 hours, into the freezer it goes.

And yes, condiments can keep forever. Ditto pitckles and olives.

[denverbill]

12. I'm fairly strict.

However, I might go a day or two past with things that are sold spoiled, like sour cream, yogurt and buttermilk, or with things I can cook to death like chicken or beef if the meat doesn't stink.

[SOteric]

13. Expiration dates are guidelines.

Ultra-pasturised Dairy products for example are considered safe for about 5 days past their expiration.

And most properly stored foods have a much greater shelf-life than the corporate attorneys for the companies who provide them would like you to think. A lot is dependent on preparation, though. If it's going into a stew, I'm far less concerned about a product than if it's being consumed without preparation.

[Az]

14. Whenever eating something questionable

I shout out "Hope I don't die!" It seems to amuse the locals.

[texas1928]

15. In college stuff in my fridge would talk to you.

When egg salad goes bad it really goes bad. It took the tabasco and ketchup hostage.

[Scottie72]

16. It also really depends on the type of food.....

One needs to look very carefully at the experation date and determine which type of experation date it is....

Some are Sell by dates: Which I normally will go over with out any difficulty. I generally will look for those deal on gallons of milk many stores will have on milk that has reached a day or so before that date. Especially since I only drink Skim milk which doesn't go bad as fast.

Some are use by dates that I generally will follow more closely. If I have any doubt if it is bad I will throw it out (even if it "passes" the smell test).

[Az]

17. If it leaves on its own.... LET IT GO!

[ScreamingMeemie]

18. There was an article in Real Simple magazine a couple of months

back listing how long you could keep something past its date and whether it was opened or unopened. I will keep and use milk after its expiration date. I come from a long line of dairy farmers and those dates can sometimes be off by as much as a week. :hi:

[HEyHEY]

19. Expiration date = god

I know it isn't always right....but I can't bring myself to do it

[BritishHuman]

20. I'm still using pepperoni that expired in May

on my pizza. Is that bad?

If it's gone curly and hard at the edges, that's usually my tell. Works especially well on milk.

[Lou_C]

21. I figure once my milk goes bad it becomes buttermilk

:shrug:

[Canuckistanian]

22. I consider them "expiration suggestions"

Smell is a very powerful indicator. Unless it's herring.

[Nikia]

23. It depends-I know cheese though

I am wondering if other people can share their knowledge on types. Being in the cheese industry, I can tell you that those dates are "best quality dates". The company guarentees taste and freeshness until that date. Depnding on packaging and type, cheese can last for years. Good companies have done enough quality test to assure that there aren't bad bacteria in your cheese which will be growing over the weeks and months. Cheese can be judged by smell and the prescence of mold. If you have a large block or loaf, you can cut off the mold and still have good product, but be careful about this blue/green mold is safer than black mold. Always smell questionable cheese and taste a small amount of it if it smells alright. It should not smell sour, moldy, yeasty, "farmy", or just plain rotten.
There are other products that I don't know about. Meat is something that you shouldn't push the expiration date on, a day or two at most and cook it well.

[WoodrowFan]

24. having had food poisoning a couple times

When in doubt, toss it out. Rather waste a dollar or two in old mayo than get THAT sick again!