Depends on what it is...i'd stretch a day or two with chocolate pudding but cottage cheese goes out two days ahead of it's date LOL

Bread....I don't care for stale bread but if it's going to be toasted I'll go til it's fuzzy (dh eats most of it). Soy milk I'll go a week or two past, meat depends on the smell, cheese, most of it way past it's date (dh shaves off the mold and never tells me so I won't whine).

But food for DS...not a day past. he's been sick too many times and I never risk it at all. I do however break the bottle rules you read about (throw it out one hour after serving it to them) because you learn the real rules in the hospital (12 hours at room temp if they've not touched it and 4 hours if they have).

Depends on what it is for me too.
Dairy, no way.
Meat, no way.
Bread, depends. I buy healthier, whole grains (less preservatives, hopefully), and tho it's rare to have it beyond the expiration a lot of times a couple days later it seems fine. Since it's just DH & I, usually my bread (non-wheat) is frozen and I thaw as I need it. Not a big bread eater. DH consumes a lot of bread so it's rare his whole wheat lasts beyond the date.

Frozen foods, canned goods, I might stretch it a little (maybe 2 months max, probably it's realistically more like a month).

I get the heebeejeebeez over expired stuff. Also, once when I was in college I took a multi-vitamin that I didn't notice was expired, broke out in hives by the end of the day. (Had taken that brand before with no problems.) That's kind of stayed with me. ;)

I have elderly aunts and uncles that were kids during the Depression and got hit really hard. (I can't imagine what that experience did to them, but it left a mark. To this day two of them in particular are very careful with $ and waste nothing.) They will use dairy as far as a week past its date if it smells OK, bread, canned goods, just about anything that doesn't look or smell funky. They're in their mid 80's and still going strong, so no adverse effects! :-)

No - even if it's unopened I won't eat it if it's past the expiration date. It may be perfectly safe to do so, or it may not be. I'd rather not take my chances.

Oh, of course. I smell and examine it thoroughly so for most things, yes. If it smells bad or has any mold it goes out.
But I also rarely have things that are keep that long. I try hard to use foods fresh.

Are there any foods that you will eat past their date?

I will eat anything beyond its expiration date. I grew up in an era before there were expiration dates, and I take them as general guidance not hard-and-fast rules. Dairy products are good for fairly long after the expiration date, and for cottage cheese and yogurt, I'm talking 2 weeks or more. Meat and fish are a different story, but a day or two or so past expiration - no problem.

I am with graywings. I take expiration dates as a suggestion. I assume there is some wiggle room.

Ditto what graywings said.

Lots of wiggle room with expiration dates.

Although this might be pushing it. Last time I canned hot pepper jelly was in July '06. Dh just finished the jar in the fridge. Not sure when it was originally opened. I found two more jars from that '06 batch in the pantry yesterday. Seals are still tight. Jelly's a tad darker. Wonder what it tastes like? I don't think I want to find out. Guess it's time to make a new batch.

Here is a link that might be useful: good site for checking shelf life of food

Interesting factoid from Consumer Reports - "Federally graded fresh eggs in their shells are safe for three to five weeks after the expiration date on the carton, as long as you keep them refrigerated."

For eggs, my mom, (born 1929) says to put an unshelled egg into a bowl of water. If it floats, gasses have built up inside and it's too old to eat.

We go through a lot of pure maple syrup. The jugs have language on them saying if it gets moldy, basically scoop out the mold and re-boil the rest of the syrup and you're good to go. Lots of wiggle room in expiration dates for me, but mold is mold.

Folk, do you keep that syrup in the fridge? Shouldn't develop mold there.

Here is a link that might be useful: someone who didn't refrigerate ;)

Yep. I think I will survive the plague.

LOL, so everyone here is still alive?!

:OD

That really surprises me about eggs! I would have thought they would have gone bad very quickly. BTW, am I the only one who wonders why eggs are in the dairy section instead of with the poultry? :O)

I'd heard that expiration dates were more of a guide for the retailers than the consumer. It's more of a freshness date. That being said, I don't usually consume perishables much more than a couple days past the date. Canned goods can go up to a year or so...they don't really have expiration dates, do they?

Frozen food...if it's commercially frozen, tends to last years in our freezer, but meat, baked goods or leftovers that I freeze have a tendency to get freezer burned, despite my best efforts, so they don't last too long.

I actually read that you do not have to refrigerate mayonnaise! That is the commercially prepared type because it's made with pastureized eggs. But I don't think I could stomach that.

I won't take any meds or supplements past the expiration date. They will lose effectiveness and can make you sick.

"That really surprises me about eggs! I would have thought they would have gone bad very quickly."

Nope, they last a really long time.

I keep two sets of eggs. The freshest are great for frying because the whites don't spread. Older eggs, at or past their expiration date, hard boil much better. Their shells are easier to peel.

I've been using that old trick of testing them in a bowl of water for years.

Too funny moonshadow, I can totally relate to your elderly relatives. Every time I visit DM I check her milk and usually end up throwing it away and getting her another half gallon. She swears "it's fine". Nope, way past the sell date and the smell, ugh.

I usually don't consume most things past the sell by. Canned goods, maybe a bit over, but not a year! We eat alot of salads, fruits and veggies so I am at the grocery at least 3 times a week. Aside from the condiments which I check every so often, there isn't much in our fridge that has a chance to go bad.

When the eggs get near the use by date, I usually boil them and put in the refrigerator. Hard boiled eggs seem to go quickly in our house.

When DD was a child I never fed anything near or past the sell by. Like igloo, wasn't worth a trip to the ER, we already spent plenty of time in that hospital setting. I worried when she went off to college about this very thing, but unnecessarily. She still checks the dates on things in the refrigerator when she comes home on break. LOL Old habits die hard?

I was going to post the same point as Pesky; dates on food- especially dairy and meat-are not expiration dates that indicate one should not eat the item past that date. They are *sell by* dates. My husband and I have a running debate about this issue. As soon as an opened milk container passes the magic date, he starts gulping it down. I think that is ridiculous; with milk and meat, you will KNOW when it is going bad!

I don't espouse eating fresh items that are weeks past the expiration date of course, nor canned items that are a year+ past. But I think people in this society are very overcautious about food safety in this area.

am I the only one who wonders why eggs are in the dairy section instead of with the poultry? :O)

For the same reason that milk isn't in the beef section?

Waaay overcautious in my opinion, runninginplace. This morning I ate a carton of plain organic yogurt dated March 6. It was delicious. I found a bag of bread flour a few months ago dated sometime in 2006. It made wonderful bread.

Improperly home-canned foods can wreak havoc, I'm sure. But commercially canned foods might last forever. And it's obvious if it's gone bad because the can bulges, even more obvious for meat, fish and dairy. Yes, I scrape off mold from cheese and jelly, but I am careful about cooked rice.

As for mayo - it doesn't need refrigeration IF you never, ever put a contaminated implement into the jar. Never touch the knife to ANYTHING and reinsert it into the mayo jar. To do so introduces the bacteria that cause problems, and mayo is a good medium for growing things. Open the jar, scoop out what you need with a CLEAN implement, cover the jar.

I won't take any meds or supplements past the expiration date. They will lose effectiveness and can make you sick.

I don't know about supplements, but according to several articles that I've read, most medications will still be effective past their expiration date, oftentimes years past their exp. date.

Here is a link that might be useful: Medscape article on drug expiration date

LOL, Graywings, I've never thought of that!

I wonder who sets these dates then. If it is each company, wouldn't it be in their best interest to make the dates sooner so that people will be prodded into tossing out the old and buying new?

Meds/makeups I won't chance. I go through and toss them several times a year. But I'll feed DH from a previously unopened salad dressing that is two months past.

We may be way over cautious but I'd rather err on the side of caution especially with children.

Your local County Extension Service can give you FDA guidelines for food safety.

Travel became an issue for me. Years ago while in Madrid I was violently sick to my stomach the first few nights after dinner. Our host practiced, as many Europeans, not refrigerating items which are commonly refrigerated here in the U.S. For the remainder of the trip I ate only saltine crackers and gingerale, I was already drinking bottled water only as was DD. My dear friend made a lovely fritata (eggs, potatoes, onions, etc.) which she served hot upon our arrival. It then sat on the counter unrefrigerated for the next few days while they snacked on it.

When we returned home I visited my MD. He told me that I became ill due to bacteria introduced that my body was not equipped to handle. I am not at all immune compromised Our hosts have always lived this way so their bodies treat that bacteria differently.

I found the refrigeration issue to be the same in France, Germany, Norway, Sweeden, Iceland. They just don't refrigerate commonly refrigerated food items as we do here in the States.

Have been to many underdeveloped countries and DH has never had a problem? He is of the "when in Rome" mindset. I've seen him drink from the tap in places that just scream "you're gonna have an issue". He must have some superhuman immune system. Me, I drink only bottled water/drinks and always travel with a stash of pre-packaged foods items, as I want to be able to enjoy the entire trip wherever the destination. Over the years, I've discovered that four star doesn't mean the same thing once you leave the States. In fact, four star in some odd out of the way places means 1/2 a star by U.S. standards.

As for meds, I was under the impression (with the exception of vitamins) that at most they can lose their effectiveness, not make you sick. Thanks for linking the article terriks.

Oh, I am really bad. I am Miss Freshy-Fresh. Don't eat anything past the date unless it's eggs, which I test in water too.

Old doxycycline can be very hazardous, so toss it when it expires and get fresh. It's pretty cheap. We always keep some fresh pills on hand for Lyme Disease prophylaxis after discovering an embedded beastie - cursed things!

liriodendron, isn't doxycycline a prescription drug? How do you get a scrip to keep as prophylaxis if you don't have a disease? Or am I wrong, it's an OTC drug now?

I usually can't get my doc to prescribe anything unless she sees us first, except for chronic things.

Thanks.

In the past doxycyline has been prescribed to patients presenting with a deer/lyme tick bite as a prophalctic (sp?) measure. However, CDC guidelines changed a few years ago and now doxy is usually prescribed when the lyme titer comes back positive. I guess there are some docs out there that will prescribe it prophalactically (again spelling ?).

Thanks, work in progress, that's what I thought. It seems it would be easier, easier on the environment, and cheaper just to get a scrip when you need it....especially since lirio says it's "very hazardous" when it gets old.

This is confusing to me. How do you dispose of it, lirio? How long does a scrip last? Have you or a member of your family had Lyme Disease? I haven't, but I know it can be very serious. We live in a tick zone, too. Are you sure you have a prescription from a doctor for doxycycline?

Thanks.

Doxycycline is a prescription drug.

With all tetracyclines there is a possibility of stomach upset due to alteration of the bacterial population, as well as increase in photosensitivity (eyes hurt in sun and increased chance of sunburn). Tetracyclines are contraindicated if you are pregnant because of effects on fetal bone and teeth, and any antibiotic should be supplemented with an alternate form of birth control because many birth control pills are activated in the gut with the help of gut bacterial (Its mostly penicillin, and mostly certain kinds of oral contraceptive, but in this litigious society, no one wants to be the Dr. who is paying child support to a woman who claims she got pregnant because of an interaction of antibiotics and her Pill. And there are Drs. out there doing just that.)

In general there is a movement away from prophylactic antibiotics due to the concerns of multiple exposure to antibiotics and bacterial resistance. Twenty years ago, the idea of a multiply-resistant bacteria was a theory. Now there are a dozen+ --some deadly ones stored at the CDC, I believe, and of course MRSA.

palimpsest - pretty much every antibiotic interferes with the efficacy of BC pills. Also, if the patient uses the same pharmacy for ALL prescriptions which should be the norm, (I realize isn't), a good pharmacist will inform the patient of the need to use an alternate form of BC for the entire cycle of antibiotics.

Sadly, I have a neice and nephew who have been on so many antibiotics (not Amoxycillan as a starter fighter, rather start with crazy strong antibiotics) in their short lives. I fear that sometime in the near future they may face a situation where there will not be an antibiotic that will resolve a minimal bacterial infection. I think DSIL's pediatrician just calls the scripts in because they are tired of dealing with her calling to bring the kids in when their noses run. This guy will call in scripts for both kids when just one has presented with symptoms. IMHO, his license should be revoked. Attempts to discuss the danger of overuse of antibiotics falls on SIL's deaf ear. Okay, stepping down from my soapbox. This is just a huge pet peeve of mine, as I believe antibiotics are just ridiculously overprescribed unnecessarily.

Funny you should ask this......I just purchased 12 boxes of Matzo crackers, just expired. I figure we eat one box a week....12 weeks worth. They normally cost $3.50 a box, marked down to .25cents!!!!!! I even fed some to the ducks at the pond!!!

Any other product....no. This is a dry cooked product sealed in plastic packaging, no grease in it like a Ritz cracker....just made with wheat & water.