Fun at the Grocery Store: Expiration Dates (Slim Jims)

[GrillingFool]

Yeah I know, eating a Slim Jim is like licking the floor of the
meat plant...

But I like them and so do my dogs. LOL

Anyway, Slim Jims have expiration dates on the packages and
on the individual sticks.
Next time you pass them in your local grocery store, check the
expiration dates!

Sunday, I found some that expired in NOVEMBER 2005; OCT 2006 and
many from 2007.

This has been a game of mine for over a year. Once a year or so
I contact ConAgra, makers of Slim Jims, and the local stores about this.
Because they are sold individually from boxes, the boxes get consolidated
by the store workers... Then when the expiration dates are checked, the
BOX date is probably used, instead of the individual stick dates.
Amazingly ConAgra and one local store can't seem to wrap their Customer
Service brains around this concept.

Anyway, that is my Fun at The Grocery Store... checking expiration dates.
You can also do this with most Kraft products like salad dressings. Whee!

 

[Andy M.]

I don't think I would be able to handle the excitement.

 

[JMediger]

Snack cakes are good ones too ...

 

[YT2095]

Wow, where have you guys been all my life? and to think of all the Fun I`ve been missing!

 

[Katie H]

I definitely think Twinkies belong in this category or should have a category all their own.

 

[sugarbrown]

The only problem is, it's not such a fun game when you actually buy something and bring it home, only to see a previous month expiry date pasted on it! lol

 

[YT2095]

I got laid up in Hospital on near Life support for eating a can of sardines 6 YEARS (not months) out of date.

it`s not funny when it comes to certain types of food!

needless to say the shop has since been shut down less than a year later.

 

[Caine]

I definitely think Twinkies belong in this category or should have a category all their own.

Twinkies don't have a shelf life. They have a half-life!

 

[elaine l]

Although the thought of buying expired items is YUK. I also marvel at items (certain brand of snack cakes) that have a shelf life longer than some folks life expectancy. What is in them? I know, perservatives which will someday put the embalmers out of business (we will be so well perserved)

 

[Barb L.]

I have always checked dates (after working in the grocery for 16 yrs.) If I send DH I always tell him to check dates ! Toothpaste now has a expiration date !

 

[jpmcgrew]

Im starting to sound like a broken record(I live so far from a store,blah,blah,blah)but that is why I check expiration dates especially meats and dairy I will look behind the shelves to get the freshest and longest expiration dates

 

[YT2095]

Twinkies don't have a shelf life. They have a half-life!

ROFLOL, I love it

 

[jpmcgrew]

I got laid up in Hospital on near Life support for eating a can of sardines 6 YEARS (not months) out of date.

it`s not funny when it comes to certain types of food!

needless to say the shop has since been shut down less than a year later.

What was it bot or sal?Did you sue the crap out of the store?Most Americans would or course alot of Americans will try to sue over nothing as well.

 

[YT2095]

Fish poisoning, I was a bit too Out-of-it to clock what was being said etc...
I figured my time was up, and I was just going to ride it out and maybe see some New stuff
too ill to care really.

no I didn`t sue anyone, I figured it was my own fault for not looking, and I was just happy to be still suckin` air

I figure someone must have complained though, as the place got shut down pretty quick.

 

[sattie]

That is a thing that baffles me now... things that did not have an expiration date now do... what is next underarm deoderant? (Don't tell me it has an expiration date!).

I am not good about checking expiration dates until I brought home so really nasty stuff. Now I am more aware of it. But my other problem is that I always manage to bring home items that are damaged or have a hole in them and I am certain that I checked the package out before loading it in the cart! Maybe it is the fact that I usually go buy groceries after eating out and all I can think about is a NAP!!!

 

[GotGarlic]

Although the thought of buying expired items is YUK. I also marvel at items (certain brand of snack cakes) that have a shelf life longer than some folks life expectancy. What is in them? I know, perservatives which will someday put the embalmers out of business (we will be so well perserved)

I have to say, the preservatives are not there to preserve *us* - they're there to preserve the *food*. That is, they are anti-microbials - they kill the microbes that would otherwise kill us, or make us very sick. I have never understood the problem so many people seem to have with "chemicals" and "preservatives" in food. People have been preserving food chemically for thousands of years, starting with drying and salting meat and fish.

Just because there are big, long, scary-sounding chemical names on food packages doesn't automatically make them bad for us. I would bet that a majority of food shoppers don't know what sodium chloride is, yet they sprinkle it on their food every day.

Here's a good source of info on this: http://www.ca.uky.edu/fcs/FACTSHTS/FN-SSB.144.PDF

 

[kadesma]

Since we had a pharmacy, I have a thing about rotating merchandise. It's something we did and oten at least every other week. So, now when I shop, I pull my milk from the back, it does drive the help nuts but who cares, it's my neck and their job to keep it up to date.Same with any dairy purchase, I check that date. baby foods when i was getting it for the little guys, often the jars were dusty at the old store I shopped at, so new store everything spotless.The one thing I really don't like but know it has to be is the smell of the bread isle. That bread all smells just the same, not yeast, or fresh bread, but preservatives..YUK and GAG..I make DH go buy it and it stays well wrapped in the refrigerator outside...The kids love it, i've learned to make a pbj pretty darn quick while holding my breath
But yes, always try to check those dates.
kadesma