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Confession: I ate really old food
Common sense is called for, but "best by" is only a suggestion.
This week I ate canned pumpkin that was three years past its expiration date, and I didn't die. Not even once.
Why risk it? Why not throw it out? Because I was feeling both frugal and contrary.
Last week a Smart Spending message board reader started a thread about an "out of code" food market in her neighborhood. The outlet specializes in food that's super-cheap because it has passed its sell-by date. Some of the items -- canned goods, coffee, cake mixes and the like -- were four or five months beyond their suggested dates.
Some people who responded were grossed out by the very idea. One called such marketing "a step above a Dumpster dive."
That's when I decided to bake some pie.
I’d been meaning to anyway, in order to use up a can of organic pumpkin whose top bore the stamp, "Best by 9/2006." It had gotten lost at the back of my daughter's cupboard and was one of the things she left at my place when she moved to Arizona.
The can looked fine: no suspicious lumps or leakage. The contents smelled normal. The result turned out quite nicely, thanks. The flavor was a little blander than the pies I usually make, but what could I expect three years after the pureed gourd had passed its peak?
Food expiration dates don't necessarily mean much. With dry or canned goods they generally indicate the tail-end of peak flavor. In fact, expiration dates are not required by federal law except on infant formula and some baby foods. (See this USDA fact sheet for more info.)
Please note: Common sense must be used. I wouldn't buy three-month-old milk unless it were clearly marked "yogurt," and any "manager's special" meat has to be red, not green. Nor would I buy canned food if the cans were rusted or bulging.
Do what works for you. Myself, I think people get a little too jumpy about things that are probably fine. For example, one message board reader noted a roommate who throws out the milk the day after its use-by date -- without checking to see if it really has gone bad. To me that seems like a potential waste of food.
Besides, it could be a lot worse. My former boss was raised mostly in the Alaska Bush because his parents were teachers. In the mid-1950s his family ate surplus powdered eggs from World War II, and they all lived. Just not happily, because powdered eggs aren't very good even when they're fresh.
Related reading:
About 10 years ago the dad got a call from an old buddy, who'd also grown up during the war, and for some reason, still had a can of that stew. They cracked it open and ate it--still as good as the original.
I keep a 1 1/2 year of non-perishable dried foods as an emergency measure. Typically I will unseal the containers every 3 years, eat the food or give it to the needy and refill with fresh goods. Unfortunately my work as a graduate student has not allowed the time to roll over my food supply. Just for fun I opened one of the containers and cooked up a huge batch of dried pinto beans. After 8 years in storate (tripple sealed) they tasted like the day they were stored. My oatmeal also tasted like day one. I have a few of my neighbors checking out the 8 yr old rice. FYI a 50 lb bag of pinto beans will cost about $25 at Sams club and makes 650 servings
TAP
Well, most caned food and even the bread was " expired" and some cans for a very long time, we ate most everything that came in the packages and never got sick. About 10 years ago I bought a big bottle of acetaminophen pills and Still take one from that bottle once in a while. You are right, just use common sense and save a lot of money, I can beat that the same people outraged by the local supermarket selling out of date food, are the ones who empty their kitchens from old canned food and take it to the food bank drives.

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