Do you throw out food when it passes its expiration date? (+poll!)

[DokiDokiTsuna]

• Yes
• Not necessarily...
• What's an expiration date...?

Show results

In this house, 90% of the time food goes so fast that expiration dates aren't really a concern...the only time you have to worry about them is when the food in question isn't particularly well liked and no one would miss it if you threw it out regardless. =/

For the remaining 10% of the time, I just give it the ol' look and smell test, followed by the 'did I die' test. If it looks alright and smells alright and 6 hours after eating it I still feel healthy, then it's cool to keep around for a little longer.

[Nail]

In my country we BUY food when it passes its expiration date!

[Inspector_Spinda]

I would but my parents would not. Depending on what it is if it’s one day past it’s probably okay, but much more I toss on sight, especially if it was imported from Hong Kong.

[DarJodo]

Day-old baked goods and expired chocolates are this one's favorites. Dat discount.

[potatogirl]

(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)

[DualDragons]

No, usually I just do the check and smell test. If the food does look/smell bad though I won't hesitate to throw it away

[AmysGames]

Usually not if it's just a short while past the expiration date. The printed date is more of an estimate than a "this will instantly spoil on this date." I just give it a sniff, check for mold etc., and if it looks good I eat it.

If it's noticeably past the expiration date, though, then yeah that sucker's getting tossed.

[NickRowler]

Most of the time the date on the package is a sell by date, not an expiration date.

I feel like I've always lived in a house with people who hoard food and I end up being the one throwing things out. It helps free up the already crowded fridge.

[Rocksteady_Comics]

Depends on the food. Milk definitely, something like bread not so much as long as it looks okay. With eggs I’ll do the water test to check if they’re still okay if they’re not too far out of date.

[Azifri]

I always do quality control myself; labels have a very specific time frame that biological products obviously don't have. Also, my country has a sell date and an expiration date, which means you can buy discount stuff the day it reaches the sell date and it will still be good at least 2 more days.

Still, when I was in the US, I was surprised that some stuff went bad as soon as the clock reached minute one of the expiration day

[Awesomeness_Studios]

Well if its something like milk, of course it goes out by the expiration date. But if its like chips or crackers then ehhh

[DualDragons]

As someone who worked in the supermarket we did the exact same with our products. We constantly checked our diary for the due date while we were a bit more laid-back with the snacks.

[Kann]

It varies. Some foods are still fine to eat after they pass the expiration date and some are not. For example I'd risk expired chocolate, but I wouldn't even consider eating expired meat. xD

[NickRowler]

I worked at a place with an extremely laid-back mindset and found out that we sold M&Ms that were two years past it's expiration date and I was shocked that the mangers let that slide.

[DualDragons]

That's... extreme 0_0.
I never had it this bad, the worst was probably a few months.

[NickRowler]

I went through the candy and checked everything and found out there was a lot of it like that. There were marshmallows so old, they turned hard like rocks and other candy cover in dust. It was so gross and it was weird that no one cared until I started working there. I even had co-workers trying to restock candy that I put into damages.

[HarryM]

It depends whether it's "best by" or "use by". The former I'll hold onto as long as it's not stale. The latter is more of a judgement call based on what it is, but I generally toss those. And then you have frozen stuff, which is a whole other thing.

I swear I read somewhere recently that those dates are really for the store selling the product more so than the consumer, but of course I can't find where I read it, haha.

[Shanny8]

If it smells bad or has mold/freezer burn on it- it's trash. I dont have have time to be laid up at home with food poisoning...

Eggs are hard to tell- if they smell bad once you crack it open, then yeah- trash it. I play milk by ear; if it's one to three days past the due date, but doesnt smell then I'll still use it...but if it smells really bad or the taste is off, then I'll pour it out.

But if its like chips or crackers then ehhh

I'll throw those out too if the taste is stale. Chips & crackers(and cereal) usually get soggy- dont taste "crispy/fresh" anymore; bread usually gets stale & dry with no moisture to it(also gets moldy).

[Cavechan]

It does depend. I just cleaned out our spice cabinet which had a lot of very old spices in it. o_o;;

But stuff like milk or bread... well for milk, I just smell it and make sure it hasn't turned. Unless if it's like only a bit left and clearly old, then I chuck it.

We usually buy two bread loaves and freeze one so then the date on it becomes a bit useless. So I just check it for any white or green spots and smell it to make sure it doesn't smell weird.

And, yeah, most things have a "Sell by" or "best by" date so you can't say exactly when the item has expired. Even expiration dates are usually conservative.

[lynestjules]

It depends.
I freeze some stuff, but for the ones that I don't, it depends on two things. Whether it says "Expires" or "Best Before".
Best before stays there up to a certain point (like meat), but expires goes to in the garbage.