Dairy: NO WAY
Meats: Smell it...
Frozen/canned: Why do I still HAVE this?

brumagem wrote:Dairy: NO WAY
Meats: Smell it...
Frozen/canned: Why do I still HAVE this?

This.

Also, why don't we have a daily poll on Shirt.Woot?

brumagem wrote:Dairy: NO WAY
Meats: Smell it...
Frozen/canned: Why do I still HAVE this?

Dairy can be fine too depending on what it is. Usually it falls under the if it smells funky toss it even if it doesn't expire for another week. Often Yogurt, butter, buttermilk, ect, are fine as long as they smell fine and haven't separated.

There is pretty much nothing that I fully go by the use by date. Things like Baking powder or corn meal and what not I find are fine for several months but you can tell when they've gone to far because what you bake isn't quite right. Not bad for you, but just doesn't fluff or hold together as well.

Meats, all smell or feel for lunch-meat, if it's slimy or smells off toss it.

Also big difference between 'sell by' and 'use by'. Sell by is all about the store and not about how long the product is actually good.

Also, why don't we have a daily poll on Shirt.Woot?

I've wondered this myself. XD

Get a case of food poisoning, and you'll never 'guess' about leftovers again!

NavyStore wrote:Get a case of food poisoning, and you'll never 'guess' about leftovers again!

Totally agree. Got a case that rocked my world once. I lost almost 20 lbs. in a week. It goes in the garbage the night it expires for this guy.

Sell By not CONSUME BY .... Big difference there. Depends on how well you store your products after you buy them.

Sell By date is the date the stores have to have it off the shelves, you've still got about 10 days after that to use it up (sometimes listed as a Use By date). Baking stuff and baked good mixes might lose some of their fluff because the baking soda has broken down. Lunch meats and all meats should always be checked before eating regardless of the date.

Here's a nice article on determining how long to keep stuff: http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500165_162-4953898.html

Agree on the sell by versus the comsume by date. And if it smells, I toss it since it is not worth loosing an entire day over a $5 package of food.

My two roomates and I shared a house in Stillwater a hundred years ago or so - we decided to make breakfast for dinner one night. Flash forward to the next day when all of three of us are glued to the potty. Rooter to the tooter....every place on my body that could be used as an exit. Eggs. Expired eggs were the culprit. We looked in the trash can the following morning and saw the carton - one month expired.

When in doubt, throw it out. One case of food poisoning and you don't take chances.

I will begin with dairy; If cheese, smell it and look for any mold>cut mold out>reevaluate.
If yogurt or milk, DO NOT SMELL, simply place in the trash. Smelling will only cause my eyes to widen, nose to crinkle, and face to cringe.
Butter and/or spreads should probably be thrown away, but exceptions may be made for dire circumstances. Smell for assurance.

Meats; Red meat should be evaluated on smell and color. Is it tough now? Does it smell bad>How bad>If I cook it will it still smell bad?
Fish should be tossed. Besides if it smells fishy ... it's fish...don't risk it, fish is better fresh anyway.
Poultry should be tossed out. I'm not willing to risk eating bad poultry.

Frozen foods are pretty much a green light. I mean, they have been frozen this long and the date is really just a guideline--right?

Canned foods are also a go. There are so many preservatives in canned food 1 little week will not matter to much.

The water in my fridge has expiration date. One small bottle says 11-7-2010. Am I safe to drink it?

If you shop at a grocery store they will put all of the expiring food on the front part of the shelves and the good fresh stuff in the back of the shelves so dig deep for your food.

southpaw42 wrote:The water in my fridge has expiration date. One small bottle says 11-7-2010. Am I safe to drink it?

Nope. Dump the water and recycle the bottle. The water in the bottle will have absorbed enough plastic by the expiration date to be carcinogenic.

Push it to the back and wait a couple months, at which point correct disposal will be clear.

DarthTagnan wrote:Nope. Dump the water and recycle the bottle. The water in the bottle will have absorbed enough plastic by the expiration date to be carcinogenic.

It's amazing that you know this even though he didn't specify what material the container was made out of.

baboval wrote:It's amazing that you know this even though he didn't specify what material the container was made out of.

Does water come in anything but plastic bottles? Also the reason there is an expiration date on water in plastic bottles is because of the plastic it is stored in. I suppose if the water somehow came in a glass bottle it would probably not have an expiration printed on it.

thestickyb wrote:Does water come in anything but plastic bottles? Also the reason there is an expiration date on water in plastic bottles is because of the plastic it is stored in. I suppose if the water somehow came in a glass bottle it would probably not have an expiration printed on it.

I have water in glass bottles with expiration dates on them.

Grandma here.
"Use by" and "sell by" are two different concepts, as another poster mentioned.
Meat, dairy, poultry, fish, deli meats, shouldn't be kept more than a week. Out with 'em the minute you realize "Hey, when did I buy this?"

Other foods, such as refrigerated fruit and veggies, it's your call, but I'd clean 'em out after a week.

If there's a smell or blue fuzz anywhere on food (with the exception of hard cheese) the whole megillah goes out.

I went to babysit my grandkids a couple weeks ago, and before my DIL left she opened the fridge and held up a plastic bag of raw chicken and told me to give it to them for dinner. Later, when I got into the dinner routine, I went for the bag...it was in the snack drawer, it and all other items in the drawer were swimming in a foul liquid that reminded me of a bar toilet in downtown Miami. Everything in the fridge went into the trash...you can imagine her surprise.

Some people.

Just went through this this morning!

Poured my bowl of Corn Pops (adult, I know) and went for the milk. Use by 7/13....hmm... smells fine. Take a tiny sip. Taste fine. I used it. Been 8-9 hours and I still feel fine. :-)

DarthTagnan wrote:Nope. Dump the water and recycle the bottle. The water in the bottle will have absorbed enough plastic by the expiration date to be carcinogenic.

It's amazing. You are considerate.

southpaw42 wrote:The water in my fridge has expiration date. One small bottle says 11-7-2010. Am I safe to drink it?

did it say "sell by" or "use by" because it may just be the date the water was bottled.

If you aren't sure it is usually best to toss it. Often it doesn't need to be spoiled to make you, but the thought it could be is enough for you to make yourself sick.

Those dates, especially on dairy products, are mostly there to frighten you into throwing out good food and buying more. Unless you're dealing with fresh produce (which interestingly enough, doesn't usually carry a sell-by date) or fresh meat, very few properly stored foods will become harmful just due to age. They may lose texture or flavor or even change flavor completely, but it doesn't mean it's harmful if eaten. Sour milk tastes yucky, but is perfectly edible and is, in fact, a crucial ingredient in some recipes. Some of the stuff that can really hurt you is the food that's supposed to last forever -canned goods that have been exposed to clostridium botulinum, for example. And even very fresh products exposed to pathogenic bacteria and warmth can become deadly in just a few hours; long before the "sell by" date.

They put expiration dates on beer. That alone should let you know that expiration dates mean nothing.