packaged food expiration date

how legit are some of these? I was cleaning out the cabinet and came across some old stuff i guess....had dates of 06 and 07 and some early 08. Objects such as: canned goods, tomato sauce, tuna in a foil package, mac and cheese, powdered seasonings in a packet, cookies, jam, hot chocolate, popcorn, etc. I mean does hot chocolate and mac and cheese really go bad? Its just noodles. Everything is dry and sealed.

Thoughts? I found an old can of odouls in my fridge that had an 06 date on it. my buddy drank it yesterday and said it wasnt too bad lol.

how do i know if i should chance it or throw it out? is it that it's not fresh after that date or that bacteria starts to grow?

 

if its canned, I go by the 5 year rule.

 

Unless the can has split or I open it and there's some funky growth in there, I eat it. Same thing with the sealed powder stuff, like mac and cheese. If I get a hankering for cheese and there's some in the fridge and it has mold on it, if I want it bad enough, I'll cut the mold off and then eat the cheese.

I draw the line on milk. If there's even a whiff of something's not right, it goes in the trash. There's a bottle of Ken's Country French salad dressing in the fridge right now that says 06 on it. It still tastes good, so I figure, what the heck.

My wife is religious on expiration dates, she'll throw it out even though I'd eat it, and she's always sick or has a tummy ache, but I don't.

 

Feed a portion to an enemy or the dog. If its bad the entertainment was free.

 

im thinking if its powdered, what the heck could go bad? popcorn and mac and cheese is all dry. i could see the tuna and sauce going bad though. since im single i don't always eat stuff i buy because i forget about it. for a while i had 10 packages of chicken in the freezer lol. id buy a pack or 2 every week because they were on sale and eat less then i was putting in!

what about spaghetti? I know i have a couple packages of rigatoni that are probably 3 years old. really dont make it a lot.

 

Mold means extra greens in your diet. Go for broke!

Canned stuff, so long as it's not budging you should be fine. Thing to note too, is it an expiry date or best before? Cause there's a big, big difference.

 

Flour and pancake easy mix ...........I would't eat anything containing yeast and such ingrediants..............the spores could kill you..........We had a case in the ER just recently were a mom gave her kid some pancakes made that had been on self past there expire date............the spores caused by the yeast nearly killed her kid.

 

Depends on what it is..... Canned goods that are liquid or sauce in nature will eventually taste like the can (metallic taste). Ate some old Tomatoes once, it was pretty nasty - but I'm still alive. If in doubt, throw it out.

Foil & plastic type packages don't always stay sealed. If its been too long- the glue (that seals the package) can break down and air can seep in. The worst I've experienced with that is the stuff tastes stale.

If in doubt - throw it out or offer it up to your local food bank. Tell them its OLD and chances are, they might not even accept it.

 

we have opened up flour and pancake mix that has been sitting in the cabinet for a good long time........weird little bugs, almost like meal worms crawling around in there. i tend to stay away from that.............even if it would be a little more protein!!

 

flour goes bad? shit. ive used flour thats been like a year old before. was thinking about throwing it out today.

 

I would throw out! Food poisoning isn't worth saving a few bucks.

 

yes flour goes bad...........what happens is it grows spores not mold like regular bread and the spores if your allergic can kill you. Only thing is you will not know til its too late. Luckly the the kids mother rushed the kid to the hospital in time.

 

Thanks for the heads up on the flour. Had a bag in the freezer.(zip locked)It was about ready to pop.

 

Fun thing about those bugs in flour: they were always there, just hadn't hatched yet. You've been eating them all along and never knew it. Tasty!

 

And we're all still alive.... alive and living well.

Ain't nutting wrong with a little extra protein!

 

That's what she said.

 

Here is the the article from snopes on the pancake batter from 2006 http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/pancake.asp

 

very true.................but if i can see the damn thing crawling around in there.........its coming outta there.

 

Those dates scare the crap out of me, I got sick off out dated food once. And it only took that one time, head bent over a bucket for 3 days, lost 5 pounds. And that nasty taste in your mouth, needless to say my girls raise cane if they see anything out of date.
Bad booze is even worse

 

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