I was going through the fridge again and found some yogurts that haven't been opened that expired on June 17. Are they still ok to eat? I am always hesitant. Also when they say BEST BEFORE (date) do they mean it is freshest before this date and they are advising you eat it before this date, or do they mean it is or has gone bad after this date? Also are some foods ok to eat long after the Best Before date. I have salad dressings that we have been eating that expired over 6 mnths ago.
Well if they have been refrigerated since you bought them and haven't been opened, i would assume that they would be ok to eat. If you do open them and they do look a bit dogdy, just chuck them. My mum has raised us on expired foods and it hasn't done us any harm, plus we save loads on the food bill. Some expired foods are completely as good as in date food just as long as it keep frozen. It just all depends on how you feel about 'expired food'.
Yeah that is what I usually do, open it to see if it smells weird or looks different. The one I opened appears to be ok. I am going to eat them... My b/f however will NOT eat anything if he notices it expired, and jokes about how I am going to poison somebody lol So far I haven't. As for the open salad dressings, they look and taste the same. How long do you think is too long to keep them after the expiry date?
Well after 2 or 3 months after the expired date, but that's just me. My mum is super hardcore and will still eat foods way after the expired date has passed (like 8mths after) just as long as it hasn't truly gone off.
if its canned or bottled i dont care, theres no bacteria growing in there. dairy products i will give a week or so past their expiry dates, depending on how funky they smell, bread is good until it starts growing mold IMO. side note: honey doesnt go off, all it will do is crystalise if left for too long, they just stamp a 10 year expiry on it to keep the FSA off their backs.
bugger, clicked the wrong option It depends both what it is and how its stored. For instance frozen meat, i buy mince on chuck out (day it "goes off" and then frezze it). Other stuff like choclate, sour cream and yoghurt dont go off so are fine to eat MONTHS after there used by date
yes i have thrown chocolate out because it has expired date, but coffee doesnt last long enough to go out of date!
chocolate cant make you sick, nor can coffee, sugar, flour, frozen food (refer to the limits inside the frezzer for these rather than the USED BY on the pack), canned food, dried food, youghurt, sour cream ect
there is a trick to tell if its to far gone, if the package is still sealed then it will explode when its off. The same for cans
i still don't feal comfortable about eating out of date food, i never eat food after the expire date,
actually flour can go off, if its not properly stored all it needs is a bit of moisture and suddenly you have a carbohydrate rich food source for any bacteria or fungi in there.
Trouble with dairy products that aren't entirely fresh is the risk of listeria, but that usually happens in the production / storage stage anyway. I think manufacturers cover their bets by stating early expiry dates; if food is stored correctly and is not 'too old', doesn't smell or look weird then it's probably ok, but why risk it?
Many products say something like " better eaten before" or "use before" then a date. That doesn't necessarily mean that the food or whatever the contents are have gone bad, its just a date that you SHOULD eat the product by to the manufactures own idea of an expiration date. Many manufactureres use dates that tend to be BEFORE the actual date of the product going bad so as to have people try and eat the stuff quickly and not let it go bad. I have had milk that was to expire over a week before it ran out and it was still good. So when in doubt, check it out, and if it's bad then throw it out. Of course I wouldn't wait to long after the expiration date either to throw canned goods away.
Let me see if I can clear this up just a bit. Those two dates are very different things - at least here in the U.S. First off, the expiration date has a safety margin built into it. It a way of the producer protecting themselves from lawsuits and the food is *generally* safe for several days after that. But "Best used by" is used in a completely different fashion over here compared to "expiration". It means that after that date the food is likely (not always, of course, but likely) to degrade in taste, flavor and/or texture. It won't be dangerous to eat, just won't be as good as it was before that date. Like slightly wilted lettuce, for example, that also becomes discolored or a strawberry that's dried out a bit compared to one that is still plump, juicy and tender. Hope that helps.
