''Best Buy'' dates...

[that_someone_special]

It seems there are "Use By" "Sell By" and "Best Buy" dates on EVERYTHING...

Which ones do you follow? Which ones are safe not to follow and how long?

The one thing I follow are the ones for dairy. It''s probably more of a mental thing of thinking I''m drinking rotten milk or curdled yogurt- so it is always tossed or used by the date on the container.

I also follow the pop ones and anything involving meat.

But, the other day, I found a package of taco seasoning that had a best buy date on it and hamburger helper (hey, I need all the help I can get!) hehe..

Spices expire??

So what''s the deal with these random dates on all packaging now

 

[radiantquest]

Medicines and dairy products, unless it is really old. Last night I found some Pop Rocks that expired in 08!

 

[that_someone_special]

My grandma passed away in June and we''ve been cleaning her house top to bottom. We found a ton of dry products that expired 06, 07, 08... lol and don''t even get me started on how old the meat is in the deep freezer! hehe

Can meat "go bad" if it''s frozen for years??

 

[Rachel9]

I follow ALL expired dates

ground Spices loose potency after 6 months [1 year whole ones] I keep most in the freezer [rubber stoppers] because I can't stand cupboard odors

ETA not sure about meat......no longer than 12 months?

 

[monarch64]

Spices can definitely expire, maybe not in the "rotting" sense, but they lose their potency. Some have shorter shelf lives than others.

Frozen meat...how many years are you planning to freeze it? I think meat has like a 6 month rule. Is it going to rot and disintegrate or something in 2.5 years? Probably not, and I don''t eat meat, but I don''t think I''d eat anything that had been in the freezer for more than several months. Trust me, I have tried things that have been in the freezer long past their expired dates (frozen pierogi''s, soft pretzels, etc.) and it''s no bueno.

 

[that_someone_special]

Oh, it''s not my freezer, it was my grandmas. She had a tall standing freezer completely PACKED with meat (apparently, you know, for when the world ends or something) and I was just wondering. My parents keep trying to give us meat and I don''t think it even LOOKS good. So I keep tossing it out and they keep telling me it''s perfectly fine... lol I feel less guilty now!

And I did not know that about spices!!

 

[Maisie]

I am careful to eat all foods before the expiry date. I hate vomiting so anything that might cause me to throw up has to go!

 

[somethingshiny]

When DH''s grandma passed, we went through her basement deep freeze. There was stuff in the bottom that expired in the 60''s!!!

I think they just used and replenished the top layer of items!

Personally, I go by sell dates on dairy but that''s about it. Other than that I go by smell. Sometimes I pitch stuff based on my sniffer before the sell-by other times it''s several days after the date.

 

[stone-cold11]

I had eaten meat over 1 year old, fish actually, totally forgot about it. Taste fine, but maybe because I seasoned and deep fried it?

Most stuff are good within a week after sell by or first opened date.

Cans definitely can be over expire date unless it puff up, then into the garbage.

 

[elrohwen]

On the majority of processed food, the 'best by' date has no effect on how safe the product is. Your crackers might taste a little stale after the 'best by' date, but they're not going to hurt you (you could keep those suckers for years and they won't hurt you). The fats used can also go rancid, but once again, not going to hurt you, just going to not taste as good as it should.

Even milk is so pasturized that it's hard for anything to happen to it. If the milk is sealed, I don't really care if it's a few days past its date. I'm more concerned with how many days I've had it open because it will start to sour. Even then, not going to hurt you, just not going to taste great.

The only thing you should really bother reading the date on is meat - that's the only thing that's going to go bad on you to the point of causing illness.

eta: I'm assuming a normal timeframe here, not years and years past the expiration date

 

[that_someone_special]

Good to know....

I''ve been called "The Food Inspector" by my friends at parties because I''m always worried about the meat and cheese stuff staying out too long hehehe....

 

[Maisie]

I''ll tell you what freaked me out. My sister''s husband is a farmer. His friend dropped some pheasants over. They were just as they were when they were flying or running or whatever they do around the fields. Apart from they were dead of course. He hung them up in the utility room and left them there for two days.

He made a stew with them and served it for dinner. I was really upset and didn''t want to eat it. Not because of what they were, but because I saw them hanging up waiting to be plucked. I was convinced I would get food poisoning or something equally nasty.

I did have a little taste and it was delicious. I stopped eating when my son found a shot gun pellet in his dinner. That was enough to put me off!

 

[4ever]

I follow the "use by'' dates because they mean, if you don''t use it by this date, you could be quite sick. Best before etc is usually just because they have to put a date on there, depending what it is I usually ignor it unless it''s perishable or several years past it''s best before date.

I once cleaned out my parents pantery. The most expired thing I found was 10 years exprired. The most disturbing thing about that was that we hadn''t been living in that house for 10 years so they bought the expried thing with them

 

[gemgirl]

For the things in the freezer? Six months is the max. For dry goods and cans it''s best to use it by the "use by" date or else it loses it''s flavor.

I bought four cans of green beans yesterday and was surprised to find that the "use by" date is two and half years from now. Something like Aug. 2012! Thank God food doesn''t last in my house that long.

 

[niccia]

Date: 2/3/2010 3:48:02 PM
Author: Maisie
I''ll tell you what freaked me out. My sister''s husband is a farmer. His friend dropped some pheasants over. They were just as they were when they were flying or running or whatever they do around the fields. Apart from they were dead of course. He hung them up in the utility room and left them there for two days.

He made a stew with them and served it for dinner. I was really upset and didn''t want to eat it. Not because of what they were, but because I saw them hanging up waiting to be plucked. I was convinced I would get food poisoning or something equally nasty.

I did have a little taste and it was delicious. I stopped eating when my son found a shot gun pellet in his dinner. That was enough to put me off!

Icky story, Maisie! My in-laws butcher their own meat as well, and they sometimes hang it up for a couple days. I am not sure why but I guess it''s common. Even though I know they do it much more humanely than the factory farm, I have trouble eating it as well. The meat does taste better though. I guess it''s the whole "knowing where it came from" thing. I try to avoid meat as much as possible anyway.
As for expiry dates, I also throw out milk/cream by the bbd...eggs and yogurt I usually will keep a little longer. Frozen meat I throw away after about 3 months, but I hardly ever have any that long anyway. I hate to waste food so I usually try and make something with whatever it is before it reaches that point.

 

[stone-cold11]

They hang the meat to cure and tenderize it, not allowed in supermarket or restaurant because of fear of food poisoning, but if you are eating it yourself...