| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/13/2008 1:18:26 AM | | How much does expiration dates on cans and packaged food matter? I tried to open a can of beans the other day and share them with a guy at work. He freaked out because the expiration date was last November. I am sure they were still good. I thought stuff in cans was practically good forever unless the can is dented. Especially curious about the shelf life of spices as I have spices in my cupboard from years ago that still taste and smell fine. | |
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| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/13/2008 1:21:51 AM | lmao, that was just funny as hell though you probably didn't intend it to be humorous. 
I tend to agree about canned goods, it's not a big deal if the expiration date passes as long as both top & bottom seals are intact and there aren't any dents. | |
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| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/13/2008 5:47:26 AM |
I tend to agree about canned goods, it's not a big deal if the expiration date passes as long as both top & bottom seals are intact and there aren't any dents. I'd be more concerned about the passing of gas after chowing down on those ole beans   | |
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| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/13/2008 6:15:57 AM | The best before labelling states that the food is at it best when fresher.Canned foods can almost last a life time.
Expiry date on beer is just silly. | |
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| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/13/2008 9:46:49 AM | | Does anyone know if there has been any scientific studies on this? I even saw a guy from a food bank that feeds the homeless talking on tv that they do not want food past the expiration date. | |
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| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/13/2008 9:59:29 AM | can food is good for 3 years, and about 6 months after expiration date.
if you are still not sure taste it ....if it has a can taste to it .....it's not good.... | |
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| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/13/2008 10:13:10 AM | | i thought that canned foods were considered non-perishable, thats why the food banks ask for them. And depending on the item i have used em after the exp. date | |
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| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/13/2008 10:25:00 AM | As long as the seal hasn't been broken its still good. Listen for the hiss sound when you open the can. IF no hiss, toss it out.
BTW the military C rations they give our guys, some of them are from WW2 and korean war. So they do last forever and a year most of the time
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| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/13/2008 10:30:17 AM |
Canned goods. Highly acidic foods like tomato sauce can keep 18 months or more. Low-acid foods like canned green beans are probably risk-free for up to five years. "You do not want to put cans in a hot place like a crawl space or garage," Peggy VanLaanen, EdD, RD, a professor of food and nutrition at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, tells WebMD. She suggests keeping canned and dry food at 50 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit in a dry, dark place. Humidity can be a factor in speeded-up deterioration. The FDA notes that taste, aroma, and appearance of food can change rapidly if the air conditioning fails in a home or warehouse. Obviously, cans bulging with bacteria growth should be discarded, no matter what the expiration date! | |
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| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/13/2008 11:46:22 AM | I have a degree in food science from Cook College/Rutgers university.
I remember writing a paper on canned foods, and canned foods goes all the way back to Neapolitan Army, 1800's. I remember that at the time some scientists had open up some cans from like 1840's, I think it was beef. But they said that they were surprise to find that the meat was OK, and found that the bacterial levels were all in the normal range. But they wouldn't want to eat it( it must have looked really bad). So if you really want to know about an expiration date of something call the company, all foods have a number to call the company and ask them. | |
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| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/13/2008 12:19:54 PM | Depending on the item, I can place little regard on sell by / use by dates... most are put on to persuade you to dump it early and buy more of their product.... I do, however look at the food / sniff it etc to make sure it is OK, whatever its use by date.. I've had stuff go off before the date, even if kept as instructed and other stuff is way past and OK.. I am very careful on poultry and fish..
I've never had a problem, I can remember a time before we had use by dates, oddly we all are products of an age where there was no sell be date... | |
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| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/14/2008 9:14:19 PM | | Okay...now how does one READ those expiration dates ?? They drive me nuts ! | |
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| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/17/2008 8:10:45 AM | I hate to sound like I'm a conspiracy theorist, but I suspect the expy dates on many canned goods are to freak people out into re-buying goods.
With all the advances in packaging (and the lack of lead sealing used on cans these days), I can't see a lot of canned things expiring in 3-6 months. More acidic things, perhaps. But a can of green beans should last ages and ages.
And, as far as the shelters not wanting food that's expired, I again suspect it's a liability thing. Give a can to someone which has an expired date, they claim to eat it and get sick=lawsuit.
Man, I AM getting paranoid... ;) | |
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| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/17/2008 8:43:13 AM | I try to use stuff up before the expiration date. Which normally isn't a problem. I have had things around long after the expiration date, and still used them will no ill effects.
Things like Milk, are usually still good a day or two after the expiration date. Just taste it to be sure.
Beer does actually go stale after aperiod of time, it is a pasturized product. Again not usually a problem, as it rarely gets even close to the expiration date if I buy it....lol.
Found this online
Canned Food, Shelf Life
One of the most frequently asked questions about canned food is its shelf life and "use-by" dates. The codes that are stamped on canned food are manufacturers' codes that usually designate the date the product was packaged. The codes vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and usually include coding for time and place of canning. Most manufacturers offer a toll-free number to call for questions about canned food expiration dates. For a sampling of how to read product codes, See Below.
Remember, the code stamped on the can is when it was packaged. The general rule of thumb is that canned food has a shelf life of at least two years from the date of purchase. It is recommended that all canned food be stored in moderate temperatures (75° F and below).
Many canned products now have a "for best quality use by" date stamped on the top or bottom of the can. "Expiration" dates are rarely found on canned food.
Canned food has a shelf life of at least two years from the date of processing. Canned food retains its safety and nutritional value well beyond two years, but it may have some variation in quality, such as a change of color and texture. Canning is a high-heat process that renders the food commercially sterile. Food safety is not an issue in products kept on the shelf or in the pantry for long periods of time. In fact, canned food has an almost indefinite shelf life at moderate temperatures (75° F and below). Canned food as old as 100 years has been found in sunken ships and it is still microbiologically safe! We don't recommend keeping canned food for 100 years, but if the can is intact, not dented or bulging, it is edible.
In a well-run supermarket, foods on the shelf will be rotated on a regular basis, so there is continuous turnover. Each canned food manufacturer has a unique coding system. Some manufacturers list day, month and year of production, while other companies reference only the year. These codes are usually imprinted on the top or bottom of the can. Other numbers may appear and reference the specific plant manufacturing or product information and are not useful to consumers. Below is a sampling of how some manufacturers code their products so consumers know when the product was packaged. If you have specific questions about a company's product, contact a customer service representative at the phone number listed.
Note: For month coding, if a number is used, numbers 1 through 9 represent January through September, and letters O for October, N for November and D for December. If letters are used, A=Jan. and L=Dec., unless otherwise noted.
Note: For year coding, 8=1998; 9=1999; 0=2000; 1=2001; 2=2002, etc.
Bush Brothers & Company (voice: 865/509-2361)
Four digits
Position 1: Month
Position 2 and 3: Day
Position 4: Year
Example: 2061 (February 6, 2001)
Chiquita Processed Foods (voice: 800/872-1110)
Ten digits (only 6-8 are pertinent to consumers)
Position 6: Year (A=1999, B=2000, C=2001, etc.)
Position 7 and 8: Julian Date
Example: A195 (July 14, 1999- July 14 is the 195th day of the year)
Del Monte Foods (voice: 800/543-3090)
First line, four digits
Position 1: Year
Position 2, 3 and 4: Julian Date
Example: 9045 (February 14, 1999)
Faribault Foods
Consumers can send inquiries and product coding numbers via an online contact form, and a company representative will help them understand the coding. www.faribaultfoods.com
Furman Foods (voice: 877/877-6032)
Second line, first four digits
Position 1: Year
Position 2, 3 and 4: Julian Date
Example: 9045 (February 14, 1999)
Hirzel Canning (voice: 800/837-1631)
First line, four digits
Position 1: Year
Position 2, 3 and 4: Julian Date
Example: 0195 (July 14, 2000- July 14th is the 195th day of the year)
Hormel Foods Corporation (voice: 800/523-4635)
Five digits on the top line
Position 1-4: Information about plant and manufacturing
Position 5: Year
Example: XXXX0 (2000)
Lakeside Foods (voice: 920/684-3356)
Second line, second through fifth digits
Position 2: Month (Jan=1, Sept.=9, Oct.=A, Nov.=B, Dec.=C)
Position 3 and 4: Date
Position 5: Year
Example: 4A198 (October 19, 1998)
Maple Leaf Consumer Foods (voice: 800/268-3708)
Top of can, grouping of last four digits
Position 1: Year
Position 2,3, and 4: Julian Date
Example: 9130 (May 9, 1999)
Mid-Atlantic Foods (voice: 410/957-4100)
Second through fourth digits
Position 2: Month (letter)
Position 3: Date (A=1, Z=26)
Position 4: Year
Example: MDE0 (April 5, 2000)
Pillsbury/Green Giant and Progresso (voice: 800/998-9996)
Five digits
Position 1: Month (letter)
Position 2: Year
Position 3: Plant information
Position 4 and 5: Date
Example: G8A08 (July 8, 1998)
Seneca Foods (voice: 315/926-6710)
Two digits on the first line
Position 1: Month (letter)
Position 2: Year
Example: L1 (December 2001)
Stagg Chili (voice: 800/611-9778)
Second through sixth digits
Position 2 and 3: Month
Position 4 and 5: Day
Position 6: Year
Example: S02050 (February 5, 2000)
"Information provided by the Canned Food Alliance. For hundreds of nutritious, delicious, easy recipes that use canned food, visit www.mealtime.org ." | |
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| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/17/2008 1:25:12 PM | I probably eat more expired food than most people(mostly within the last 2 years) and I have never been sick from it. I buy expired meat and freeze it when I get home so it keeps until I want to use it. Expired canned good or dry foods.... I don't usually check the dates on those, but I've never encountered bad food from there. Expired bread can last over a month in the fridge, it'll dry out before it goes bad. The most expired food I eat is yogurt..... I find most of the smaller container ones can last 2-3 months past the expiration date. Milk though I am very picky about.... the littlest sign that it is starting to go bad and I will dump it without thinking about it.
Basically for me, if the expired food smells good, looks good, and tastes good..... it's still good. | |
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| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/17/2008 1:59:51 PM | The expiration date is mostly a ploy, which causes many ill-informed, and panic-prone
people to buy, buy, buy! Did you ever notice the expiration date on bottles water?
Remember your high school physics? Water, like energy, is forever!! It simply changes form, from one to another, but it's always water!
The only possible problem is leaching from the plastic bottle itself. Those bottles produce pretty deadly toxins, when used in a micro wave, but are indestructable. Just like the water they contain.
Canned food has kept perfectly well for many years, and a cache in the arctic was found to be perfectly fine, 28 years after being left. The army still uses WW2 canned rations, so what do you think?
Buy fresh, (sucker) I love the profit!!!!! | |
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| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/17/2008 2:07:05 PM | Stuff in cans still can go bad. Some can go for years past the date. I've seen cans explode and some that are fine. But here is the question.
A Can can go bad and how are you to know, if there is no foul smell. So, will you risk your health, your kids health, or anyone else that will eat your food, will you risk their health?
Personally I just donate all my cans that get close to the date, to non-profits and food banks. I know that they won't let the food sit around, it will get consumed quite quickly.
Then I can just get new stuff, no biggie and I never have to worry about a sick child or friend.
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| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/17/2008 2:48:30 PM | | While in the national guard we ate korean war vintage stuff and it was delicious. Most canned foods will be ok for an extremely long time after the marked date. The date is mostly a cover your butt thing. Also much food that is good gets tossed and repurchased. ALWAYS listen for the vacuum sound when opening and you'll be fine. If the can fizzes or sprays then get rid of it. | |
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| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/17/2008 9:59:44 PM | | Canned food will last for years after the "best used by" date. However, I figure each day past the date increases the likelihood it might make me ill and the can of beans is $0.67. I'd toss it. | |
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| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/17/2008 10:24:06 PM | | Did Liberace really die from eating bad meat from a can?? He was a great pianist. I heard he fooled around with the organ at times too..lol. | |
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| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/18/2008 12:12:27 AM | | Spices tend to loose their best flavor if they are open on the shelf to long. The spices I use for holiday baking I keep sealed in the freezer. Canned goods tend to stay good for ages. Keep away from dented or swollen cans. Once something is cooked or opened (in the frigerator) the standard rule is "up to 7 days and then toss". | |
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| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/20/2008 1:21:13 AM | Canned meat or fish I dump if it's past the expiration date, same with high-acid vegetables (tomatoes, tomato products). Canned milk goes bad, often before the expiration date (turns brown and clumpy). I've never had a problem with canned vegetables otherwise, but I will toss a rusty can.
Products in glass are a different matter; food doesn't react with glass, but it will react with light; if the food in a glass container is discolored, I toss it.
Compared to the cost of having your stomach pumped, canned food is cheap; when in doubt, toss it out.
Don't bother donating expired canned goods, the food banks won't distribute them.
Dump it all in a crock pot a month before the expiration date, make Mulligan Stew. | |
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| Expiration dates on food
Posted: 4/20/2008 4:50:52 PM | I was going to post the USDA Food Storage fact sheet, but it wouldn't format correctly so instead, I'll supply the link:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Food_Product_Dating/index.asp
From reading the posts here, I'd say most should read it. The shelf-life of food is not as long as many might think. People often get sick eating the food they prepare at home, then attribute the illness to something other than food poisoning, thinking they have the flu or something. | |
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