Expired stuff in your fridge

[Dawgluver]

I loved it too, Janet!

 

[Aunt Bea]

Pleading the 5th on this....

Many years ago I wrote a song about this topic.

View attachment 24641

Fantastic!

You deserve a spot on "The Prairie Home Companion" at the old Fitzgerald Theater!!!

 

[SherryCarl]

I know just what you mean. The fridge fills up quick with jars of stuff barely used. I try to clean out the fridge once a month to keep everything new. It seems to work for me. Even though its not my favorite job

 

[Nova]

Something to note, Only two things have actual expiration dates. Baby Food and Medicine. Everything else is best by, use by, sell by.

Best by is where the manf has figured the peak flavor to start falling off.
Use by, they just want you to replace it then, has no more meaning than Best By.
Sell by is for the grocery store, etc. If its not sold by then, they need to take it off shelves as it starts to go bad within a week of the sell by for milk and such.

 

[Nova]

Hah! Only 5 years, that's nothing. When I cleaned out my step-mom's fridge , freezer and pantry when I stayed with my dad after her accident, I found 10, 11, and even one 12 year expired things. Guess it's a good thing she never cooked much (and daddy didn't cook at all) cause who knows what might have happened to them if they had eaten some of that stuff. And I wasn't being nosy, knew I was going to be there for a long while and was trying to use what she had to make meals for me and my dad.

Since I know some of the rest of you have parents getting on up there, might be worth offering to clean out their fridge/pantry when you are visitng. I NEVER dreamed my step-mom would have not cleaned her pantry and fridge out from time to time. She kept an immaculate house and kept the fridge clean, just never bothered to check the expiration dates for some reason.

We found some old jarred syrup in my grandmothers pantry one year.... well quasisyrup, quasiglass...

 

[Smokeydoke]

Hubby pointed out that the Red Lobster biscuit mix was 4 years expired. Oops.



And I think my ketchup has turned into ketchup wine. I never use that stuff unless my "picky" eaters come over and want hot dogs and hamburger (which I rarely make on my own volition).

I really need to do a cleanse too. Keeps me sane.

 

[Nova]

Hubby pointed out that the Red Lobster biscuit mix was 4 years expired. Oops.



And I think my ketchup has turned into ketchup wine. I never use that stuff unless my "picky" eaters come over and want hot dogs and hamburger (which I rarely make on my own volition).

I really need to do a cleanse too. Keeps me sane.

That dry mix woulda been just fine I bet.

 

[GotGarlic]

That dry mix woulda been just fine I bet.

Not if there was baking powder or soda in it. When they expire, baked goods don't rise.

 

[dragnlaw]

I've kept ketchup/mustard and relish up at the cottage, year after year and never in the fridge. Relish would get used up for some reason but mustard/ketchup would last 3 years or more. Was fine! All of these sort of products are preserved with vinegars, sugars - they are not going to go bad easily.

Powdered stuff like Bisquick would get mealy worms or moths or whatever they're called.

My son once looked at the date on a box of KD at the cottage one year and said, and I quote... "MOM!!" lol the foil pack of cheese was rock solid - but the pasta was fine... (think it was 4/5 years old - common! it was at the back of the cupboard!)

I have individual packs of yogurt in my fridge that are several months old past due. Had one yesterday... it's was fine!

Packaged foods now-a-days are so processed, they usually only go bad if you use dirty utensils in and cross contaminate. Not even mayonnaise goes bad anymore (***please note.. other than homemade ones with egg***) They are so processed, pasteurized, homogenized... they ain't gonna go bad sitting out a bit. I put most things with mayo on ice only because I like them chilled not out of fear of bacterial growth.

Like was said earlier, common sense, common sense, common sense.

 

[CakePoet]

Well other food laws here so a yogurt out of date with month would have curdled or fermented. Yogurt doesn't last long since we are not allowed to add preservatives to it.
Swedish food laws are good but strict and we have coherent system of use by day date and sell by date.But even we have our share of food problem.
I found a sausage in my fridge today, yeah from my birthday in May, it had fallen down behind the potato box and mummified.

Honey, Sugar and salt never goes bad.

 

[dragnlaw]

LOL cakepoet I have had yogurt grow a grey beard, plus many other things. Sour creme, creme fraiche, etc. But north American ypgurt is so process that no matter their hype I'm still not sure it is even good for us. You are lucky!

 

[Andy M.]

That dry mix woulda been just fine I bet.

If the dry mix included a leavener such as baking powder, it would have expired and the biscuits would have been flat.

 

[CakePoet]

Well even with all this good food, I still cant eat store bought bread, my delicate stomach cant handle the added fibers..

Anyway I have now also found moldy marzipan, praline filling and something I have no clue what it was to start with. I got ill in May, so yeah I am bit behind on the kitchen. My husband promised to clean the fridge tomorrow. Thank god the freezer only have food for a month.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

I have a system and it works great!!!

I keep a few permanent black markers in a kitchen drawer. When I unload my groceries I take most items and using a marker I write the month and year over the barcode. (That eliminates the decision of where to put it.)

For example, this month is August 2016 so I write 816 on every barcode, not only bottles etc. that go in the fridge but also canned and boxed goods that go in my pantry. In December I will be writing 1216.

I wanna know when I bought it even if it has a use-by stamp. I'm sometimes amazed at how old stuff is. Some stuff has no use-by stamp but I always have my "bought on" code.

Some items need no codes because I know I'll use them quickly (crackers, cereal) or they are easy to tell they are bad (milk).

Ya gotta admit it's a simple, easy to use system, and gives you the knowledge of how old it is so you can decide for yourself whether it's still good.

 

[Andy M.]

I have a system and it works great!!!

I keep a few permanent black markers in a kitchen drawer. When I unload my groceries I take most items and using a marker I write the month and year over the barcode. (That eliminates the decision of where to put it.)...

Assume you buy an item that's very well dated, perhaps two years out. You write today's month and year on the jar/can and put it away. If you don't open that container for several months or even a year, doesn't your handwritten date become meaningless?

Theoretically, a year after you bought that item you could buy the same item again with the same sell by date but a different Greg date. Both jars would be equally viable but they'd have Greg dates a year apart. The only difference is where the unopened items sat for that year.

 

[dragnlaw]

If you don't open that container for several months or even a year, doesn't your handwritten date become meaningless?

Theoretically, a year after you bought that item you could buy the same item again with the same sell by date but a different Greg date.

Why would the date he has put on the pkg become meaningless? He will still know which one he bought first. Choice is still his as to which to use first.

And in the laws of probability and theoreticals, if he buys the same item a year later and it has the same sell by date as the first one - it is probably a car...

Or ... he should find another grocery store.

 

[Andy M.]

Why would the date he has put on the pkg become meaningless? He will still know which one he bought first. Choice is still his as to which to use first.



And in the laws of probability and theoreticals, if he buys the same item a year later and it has the same sell by date as the first one - it is probably a car...



Or ... he should find another grocery store.

It's a hypothetical situation.
If the two items were purchased a year apart and had the same expiration, the date he bought them means nothing. Both items were created at the same time and carry the same exp. date. One was stored in greg's pantry and the other in a warehouse.

A more useful date would be the date it was opened.

 

[dragnlaw]

A more useful date would be the date it was opened.

Yes, that makes good sense too.

But without getting into the hypotheticals and the myriad of possible mitigating circumstance... his dating idea works very well.

and I should really subscribe to it (actually both of them)

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Assume you buy an item that's very well dated, perhaps two years out. You write today's month and year on the jar/can and put it away. If you don't open that container for several months or even a year, doesn't your handwritten date become meaningless?

Theoretically, a year after you bought that item you could buy the same item again with the same sell by date but a different Greg date. Both jars would be equally viable but they'd have Greg dates a year apart. The only difference is where the unopened items sat for that year.

My point is that adding the date I bought it adds more information. I can decide at time of use which date to use.

Looking at it a different way, it's an implementation of a common stocking system called FIFO = first in, first out. You use what you bought first. Same reason I always reach to the back of the supermarket shelf when grabbing products. Many products are stocked by the clerk putting new stock at the back. FIFO!

I can think of many things in life where having more information is better. Worse comes to worse you can pick and choose which information you wish to base your decisions upon.

And lastly, some products have cryptic manufacturing information that may or may not have a sell-by or use-by date, particularly the many Asian products I buy due to my enthusiasm for Asian cooking. Some products are not even legal to sell in US until after the distributor has added a sticker with the nutritional etc. information on it.

The only date I don't want to know is my own expiration date!

 

[Andy M.]

FIFO only makes a difference if you're dealing with two item of different ages. If two items are the same age (expiration date) it doesn't matter which one you bought first or which one you brought home first

That said, whatever makes you happy.