Expiration Dates: Should You Pay Attention?

I had a lovely luncheon for my son David and his fiancee Tracy just before their wedding. We sat outside on a beautiful afternoon and David and Tracy got to meet my friends. We always have something interesting to talk about, and Carole was telling the people at her table about the community project she had just come from that morning. It was an effort to give homeless and other needy people a little something extra. Carole's group was packing backpacks with food to give away to those in need. Much of the food had been donated, and had either expired or was close to expiration, so they had a chalkboard that told those packing the backpacks how expired the food could be. Canned goods might still be good one year later, rice might only be good for six months, etc. Carole was shocked that food could be distributed and eaten past the expiration date. I knew this of course because Ron told me that when he was at Taft most of the food was past expiration. So, I did a little research, and will try to explain to you what the dates on food products actually mean. Use by, Best if used by, Sell by, Expires on, and other such phrases are provided by the manufacturer, to tell how long the product is likely to remain at its absolute best quality when unopened. It is not a safety date. Your best bet for gauging whether an unopened shelf staple product with one of the above dates is still of satisfactory quality is to smell and examine it first. Always discard foods that have developed an off odor, or appearance. Sell by dates are found on perishables like meat, seafood poultry and milk. This does not mean that they're no good after this date, it is just a guide for stores to know how long they can display a particular product. Milk products especially, are only good for a week or two after the sell by date, once opened. If left unopened they may last several weeks. Use your nose as your guide. If it doesn't smell right, toss it. Expires on dates are only found on baby formula and some baby food. These are the only food products the federal government regulates with regard to dating. You should always use the product before this date has passed. Packing codes which are difficult to decipher, help manufacturers and grocers rotate their stock and quickly locate products in the event of a recall. They are not meant to be interpreted as an indicator of either food safety or quality. More information on product dating is available at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and inspection Service website. The bottom line is that only baby formula and some baby food has expiration dates that must be adhered to for safety reasons. The rest of the dates, like sell by, best if consumed by, etc., all relate to the when the product is at it's best. Products may change color over time, but it may not effect the taste or safety of that product. I made the mistake of buying two very large bottles of catsup at Costco a while back (actually many years ago). I don't know what I was thinking because I don't use that much catsup, but I had those two bottles for years. Yes, years! The second bottle was several years old when I finally opened it, and the catsup had turned a dark shade or red, almost brown, but it tasted just fine. Canned vegetables may also change color, they may even lose some nutrients, but they certainly are still safe. In all instances when you might suspect an old product is not good, toss it. Let your eyes and your nose be your guide. The products that were packed in the backpacks for giveaway to homeless or needy people may have been expired, or past their sell by date, but they were by no means unsafe. It would be a shame to discard these foods just because they have passed a particular date when we know that they're still good for years. There is a place in Livermore, California that does nothing but test and taste products to determine how long peanut butter, for example, is good. They test products for months and years to get the answers. The reality is that they're still testing, so they don't have any definitive answer. My experience tells me that when a product has been opened, like yogurt, cottage cheese, jam, mustard, etc., to let your eyes and nose be your guide. If yogurt is moldy, throw it out, if cottage cheese smells bad, throw it out. Most other things aren't likely to go bad if refrigerated. Don't throw canned goods out just because they've passed a date. Open them and check them. If they look and smell good, they probably are.