Expirey dates: should I eat it?

[alltherage]

So... I'm currently snacking on a delicious past due frozen burrito that expired in Nov, 2007. I also have some lunch yogurts about to expire. I've eaten all kinds of stuff past it's date, but where is the line?

What have you eaten past due, and how did it sit? Also, what happens to sour cream when it's past due? Does it become ultra-sour?

[Young Guns]

If its been frozen It should be good to eat. If its just been sitting in the refrigerator don't do it! Ive actually had the same thing happen to me tonight. I have some cold medication pills that expired 5 months ago. Should I or shouldn't I?

[Clever_Iggy]

Sour Cream does get "ultra sour"...and gross... really liquidy.

For a frozen burrito... I would go for it - best case scenario, it's a delicious treat, worst case scenario - a hilarious story for the rest of us to enjoy.

[redforever]

[quote=Young Guns;1211893]If its been frozen It should be good to eat. If its just been sitting in the refrigerator don't do it! Ive actually had the same thing happen to me tonight. I have some cold medication pills that expired 5 months ago. Should I or shouldn't I?[/quote]


No, now the cold medications won't hurt you, but odds are, they have lost their effectiveness. So then they will not work or they will certainly not work as well, you will take more to make them work, and your body will get used to them, so that in the future, even the new stuff won't be as effective. This is how germs become resistant to all forms of medications. You expose germs to a bit of medication here, a bit of medication there, and they become immune to medication over time.

Like really you guys, or gals, why do you have all that old stuff around? Especially medications? Chuck it.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by alltherage

So... I'm currently snacking on a delicious past due frozen burrito that expired in Nov, 2007. I also have some lunch yogurts about to expire. I've eaten all kinds of stuff past it's date, but where is the line?

What have you eaten past due, and how did it sit? Also, what happens to sour cream when it's past due? Does it become ultra-sour?

Yogurt is usually ok for a week or so past its due date, provided it has been properly refrigerated and the seals on the lids have not been broken. Remember, they are guidelines, use common sense.

Sometimes it might go bad before the expiry date too, sometimes it is good past the expiry date. Use your common sense, your eyes and your nose.

The most reasonable thing to do is buy in quantities so that you can consume them within the expiry date timeline.

[alltherage]

Hey, I have it around because I have a bachellor pad and I live alone. I can't stand paying a premium for single servings so I get the bulk packs of stuff! I just have to remember to eat it!

[Young Guns]

Originally Posted by redforever

Like really you guys, or gals, why do you have all that old stuff around? Especially medications? Chuck it.

Its been awhile since Ive had a cold so i haven't touched this med in awhile. I'm actually patting myself for even looking at the expiry. usually i just open it up and pop a couple. Already threw it away though.

[Bobblehead]

A lot of labels are "Best Before", so I figure as long as it doesn't taste like it has gone bad, why not. As long as it has been stored correctly it is usually fine for a few days after. And frozen stuff, why not?

[CaramonLS]

I've eaten bread 5 years past the expiry date. Of course, it was in the freezer the entire time, but it tasted absolutely horrible. If the Burrito was in the freezer = good, if it was in the fridge, forget about it.

[KTrain]

Yogurt is bacteria to begin with. A few days hould be fine.

The frozen burrito should be fine too.

I've heard the smell is all that matters.

[Jayems]

I won't eat or drink anything even 1 day past the expiry date.

I'm aware that it's probably fine, but still, I just can't bring myself to do it. This goes especially for milk. No way do I put 1 day expired milk in my cereal.

I credit the fact that I never get sick... ever... partially to not eating expired food.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by KTrain

Yogurt is bacteria to begin with. A few days hould be fine.

The frozen burrito should be fine too.

I've heard the smell is all that matters.

Yup, you're safe, salmonella and e-coli stink to high heaven

[Hack&Lube]

Remember, certain molds are actually good for you. Then again, it's not easy to tell when you open that bag of bread and find it's been replaced by a giant peat moss chia pet.

[greyshep]

Originally Posted by Jayems

I won't eat or drink anything even 1 day past the expiry date.

I'm aware that it's probably fine, but still, I just can't bring myself to do it. This goes especially for milk. No way do I put 1 day expired milk in my cereal.

I credit the fact that I never get sick... ever... partially to not eating expired food.

I dont really have anything valuable to add to this thread.

But I just gotta say that your avatar makes me laugh everytime I see it.



Where did you get that thing?

[eddly]

im a student, ill pretty much eat anything. ill throw out milk after it expires, but pretty much everything else is fine. i have a deep freeze so i'm always pulling out frozen bread that is well past its expiry date. even vitamins are fine after their expiry, they just aren't as effective as they used to be... mmm... all this talk of expired food is making me hungry.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by eddly

im a student, ill pretty much eat anything. ill throw out milk after it expires, but pretty much everything else is fine. i have a deep freeze so i'm always pulling out frozen bread that is well past its expiry date. even vitamins are fine after their expiry, they just aren't as effective as they used to be... mmm... all this talk of expired food is making me hungry.

1. Freezing food extends the expiry date. Not forever though. Everything in the freezer has a shelf life too. Not that you would necessarily get sick from it but after awhile it tastes like dirt.

2. As I said above, they might not hurt you, but they are less effective. By taking medications wrong, in other words as not prescribed by your doctor, or by taking medications that are past their expiry date, you are only setting up the germs in your body to become immune to the same medications that are supposed to help you.

[Dan02]

frozen burritos are like salsa, never goes bad.

[Rhetts_the_Best]

Originally Posted by alltherage

So... I'm currently snacking on a delicious past due frozen burrito that expired in Nov, 2007. I also have some lunch yogurts about to expire. I've eaten all kinds of stuff past it's date, but where is the line?

What have you eaten past due, and how did it sit? Also, what happens to sour cream when it's past due? Does it become ultra-sour?

I remember seeing Really Old!!!! sour cream, and it had moldy fibres
growing from it

It kind of reminded me of that ZZ Top song about a bad TV dinner.

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=hMu0rl8vMWQ

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by redforever

2. As I said above, they might not hurt you, but they are less effective. By taking medications wrong, in other words as not prescribed by your doctor, or by taking medications that are past their expiry date, you are only setting up the germs in your body to become immune to the same medications that are supposed to help you.

Just adding that this is not necessarily true. It depends entirely on what the type of drug is and bacteria for sure develop resistance to antiobiotics. Other common things like acetaminophen (tylenol) or acetylsalyicylic acid (A.S.A., Aspirin) that you might take for a cold act in completely different ways. I'm actually not sure that those drugs have lost their effectiveness since they were first discovered 100+ years ago.

[BlackEleven]

And for an interesting bit of trivia I saw on television, the only natural food that never goes bad? Honey.