Absolutely, I'd use it!

Well, cocoa doesn't actually expire in that goes bad, but over time the quality of it tends to decrease, so that cake may not turn out as well as it could if you had fresh.

Oh yeah, that stuff lasts forever. That is my mother's and my sister's favorite cake.

Thank you! Saved me some money, as I was about to pitch it and go to the market.

Yes sjerin and it's such an easy cake to make - delicious. I use the chocolate icing recipe on the box too. I think I have all the ingredients on hand, even the milk which because I can't digest milk very well, normally don't have in the fridge; but had to have it for strawberry shortcake the last weekend.

If you're going to the trouble to make a cake from scratch (good for you, even if it's a simplified one), why be stingy about spending a few dollars to be sure your ingredients as fresh as can be and aren't sub-par?

I don't know, but I'll bake the cake and if it's no good I've learned a lesson.

I checked the box again awhile ago and am wondering if that is a "sell by" date and not an expiration date.

Probably it is a "best used by" date and I've never experienced a degradation in flavor in cocoa powder and mine is older than yours.

I recently read that the whole "sell by/ expiration date" issue is going to be revisited as we "Americans" are wasting so much food. I don't remember where or who, but there are things that are perfectly good past those dates and our land-fills are are always growing/filling.

In home food storage (which I practice and teach classes on), cocoa is one of those foods that keeps well for really long periods of time (I'd put it in the "nearly forever" group). It doesn't "go bad" per se, especially if kept away from heat, moisture and light.

When you do open the container, be sure to get in and get out and not leave the box open and exposed to moisture in the air for a long period of time and you should be good-to-go.

It also helps to transfer it to a smaller container (small jars with tight-fitting lids) in order to have the least amount of air in the container possible. Just be sure to mark the jar/container with the contents. Oxygen is an enemy to all food.....

I have several boxes of Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa I purchased on clearance almost 2-years ago with the best-by date of 2015 - and have 3-more boxes left from that purchase stored in my basement food storage room and I will be using them for the next 2-years, at least.

It takes me a few years to go thru a cocoa container... never had a problem with taste from beginning to end. Growing up we never had expiration dates on things and I'm sure we had a lot less food waste back then.

Dates are a major kitchen peeve with me. NOT expert but seriously doubt cocoa powder could go "bad" in YEARS. With caveat... properly stored, say in air-tight container/jar, in cool location out of major sunlight. And that dreaded DATE... does it even say product "expires"??? Fresh foods, like meat/fish/poultry don't even have expiration dates on them... just sell-by dates. Even then, you should get 2-3 days BEYOND that if properly store. Seem to recall that some of those meat products that are pre-seasoned are often/sometimes on verge of going over dates?? OK, getting off my soap box.

Your cocoa powder will be perfectly fine!!

I'm sure these sell-by dates have increased food wastage in our country by enormous amounts. :(

grainlady, I think few people would consider it reasonable to buy (and need to store) a multiyear supply of something like cocoa powder (or anything else) when a consequence of doing so is that much of it would be consumed after its Sell By date. Fresh is fresh no matter what.

If you can afford to waste money on a multiyear inventory purchase, why not just buy it when you need it? I'll bet that whatever savings you have by the advance purchase is negated by the time value of spending so many years in advance.

Snidely-

I think even fewer people care what you think about a subject you don't know anything about.

As I have posted many times before at the gardenweb over the last 8-9 years when this subject has come up - it took me 18-months to develop the 3-levels of home food storage we still maintain today; and I did it on a $200/month food budget (for two adults) back then. I now maintain it on $125/month and have done so for many years now.

I also donate at least 10% of our food and/or cash from our food budget to the local Food Bank. We also donate generously to a local mission and three city-wide food drives throughout the year. Everything else is rotated out of storage and into the kitchen and used on a regular basis. It might surprise most people, when you plan your food storage based on real recipes and real numbers, our food list consists of around 50-items we either grow ourselves or purchase. Although many of the items changed after going gluten-free 3-years ago. I sold a large quantity of my wheat and other gluten-containing grains.

I developed our home food storage during the economic down-turn in 2007-08 while my husband took three substantial pay cuts and they reduced the work force at the manufacturing plant where he worked by 50%. He's presently a VP and has been with this company for 41-years. We were able to give food to many of the workers who lost their jobs and had trouble finding another one. Families who now know the reason why they need to have home food storage. We did home food storage for food security during an economically difficult time, and now it's just a way of life. I've always maintained 3-6 months of food - that's just a common function when you grew up in the country like I did - due to home canning, dehydrating, and freezing food you grow, and then buying a bulk amount of grassfed beef and (dressed) chickens from friends and pork from a cousin. This just organized it into one room in the basement and a better rotation system.

Level #1 - 72-hour Emergency Foods

Level #2 - 6-12-months of pantry foods (things I use on a day-to-day basis)

Level #3 - 1-year of long-term food storage (freeze-dried foods in #10 cans, grains/seeds/beans, powdered milk, etc.)

You must not be familiar with the teachings concerning home food storage taught by the LDS Church because that's what I used as a guideline.

My advice is to stick to something you have actual knowledge about. Obviously home food storage isn't one of them, and it makes little difference to me whether you approve of it, or not. I know people who go to the grocery store once or twice a day, and it makes no difference to me that they do. But I also know they spend two or three times as much of food as I do. It's a CHOICE. You can have your opinion, but it's too bad you have to make me some kind of a target of your ignorance.

Grainlady, I understand and agree on having a food storage and you are someone who has taught me a lot. You've made an art out of household management, cooking, storage, economizing and more. It's really amazing the vast amount of knowledge you've attained. I really don't think Snidely was attacking you, just expressing an opinion and different view. At least I didn't read his comment that way at all. And I'll add that I see some merit in what he's saying (to a point) but I have to take issue with the blanket statement of fresh is fresh. Something that keeps a long time, hasn't deteriorated or anything is still "fresh" even if it's not new. And there's also issues of space to keep a large quantity that some have to consider. Certainly a few containers of cocoa (assuming their a standard size) aren't going to take up a bedroom of space and I know you are so organized that you have it down to a science. Not all have those talents.

Snidely, I think the point wasn't so much the cost of a container of cocoa, rather the point was having to make a trip to get it. Having the ingredients available would enable it to be made at the time without a trip to the store. The money saving part would be more of a perk. At least that's how I'd view it.

Just my 2¢ worth. No refunds or exchanges. And FWIW, heck yeah, I'd use it as long as it was not clumped up and it still smelled OK.

You've got it right as regards my expressing an opinion, cynic.

Anyone who harbors the feeling that someone else expressing a differing opinion from their own must be ignorant is being sanctimonious to an extreme. I expressed my own view clearly, there's nothing more to say.

Public discussion is public discussion.

Aww, Cynic, what a sweet post!

Any foods past the dates on the package will be tossed by any charities receiving them.

@ Cynic - Thanks for the kind words, but Snidely and I go back more than just the latest post, and also on the same subject. He single-handedly destroyed discussions on the Money Saving Tips board, a board that once had some really good posts and contributors, yourself included. There IS no discussion with Snidely. First there is subtle condemnation, then ridicule disguised as a question, with the conclusion that if Snidely doesn't do "whatever", then why would you or anyone else?

I got behind on my cocoa use after I had my gallbladder removed (2-years ago) and I couldn't eat chocolate for about a year. Back on track now, but not at my previous normal use.

@lisa_fla - You are correct, and personally I never donate food that is past the use-by or best-by dates. In fact, I try not to have any food with the current year date on it in storage, other than commercial peanut butter and possibly mayo, which aren't long-term storage food items but pantry food (unless you store peanut butter powder in #10 cans). I have a well-managed rotation system and keep an inventory in my Price Book, and I use that for shopping. I often purchase food specifically for the Food Bank when I find a good price or bulk price and donate food to them monthly.

As far as the amount of space it takes for home food storage.... Enough food for a year for one person (well-planned) will take up about as much space as a single bed takes up. Hoarding is different from well-planned home food storage.

For more insight: http://alwaysfrugal.com/groceries.html

From #3 at that link:

3. Stockpile nonperishable food when it is on sale.

If you have the room, stock up on sale goods for nonperishable purchases on items you normally buy. It is hard to beat the rate of return you can get on some of the sales the grocery stores have to entice you to do your shopping with them.

For example, if you invest $1 in a money market account, at current interests rates at the end of the year you may have made a total of less than 2 cents, possibly less after taxes. If you buy a $1.00 item and get another one free on a two for one sales, then that is like getting 100 cents worth of goods for free, nontaxable. For goods on sale items at great prices, you can make a much greater return on your money by stocking up than you can by deferring the purchase and investing the money instead.

[This was especially true when we experienced large price hikes in food and household goods not that many years ago. - Grainlady]

I've been stockpiling extra food for about the last year grainlady and it is a great idea. It is so convenient that I can go to the pantry storage and freezer and find just about most of the things I regularly use in cooking. The other day I had just got home and decided to make some deviled eggs, and was kicking myself because I was out of mayo and really didn't want to have to make a special trip to the store. then I remembered buying a few jars of mayo a few weeks ago when it was half price, looked around in the pantry and found it! woohoo.

I'm wondering about what some people said about 'quality deterioration'. Is that an actual, palpable process? In everything? I have kept some dried things for a long time and never noticed a difference when I went to use them, which leads me to surmise that not everything deteriorates in quality at the same rate.

What, exactly, is the 'quality' issue we are talking about in cocoa powder? Is it detectable? If the grower stored his cacao beans for a year before making the powder and you bought it 'fresh' would you be able to tell the difference?

Lucille-

The enemies of all food are heat, light, moisture, oxygen and insect infestation. Avoid those and you increase the storage life.

Our Co. Extension Office has jars of home canned green beans that are 30+ years old they like to show during canning classes. The color is a little lighter and you notice some from the beans falling apart, but the seals are still holding. Even following the guidelines according to the USDA "Complete Guide to Home Canning", "once canned, additional losses of the sensitive vitamins are from 5 to 20 percent each year." So the longer you store something with heat and light sensitive vitamins in it, they will continue to degrade.

My sister is unable to do a lot of food storage because she keeps her home much warmer than "room temperature" (which is considered 70°F according to food storage charts, and she keeps her A/C set between 80-85°F to save on utilities) and she doesn't have a basement. She notices canned fruit (peaches, pears, plums) seem to get soft and lose some color the longer they are stored in warm temperatures. She stores much of her pantry foods in the freezer or refrigerator. For this reason, attics and garages aren't optimal food storage areas. The hot temperature affects things like color, texture, and some flavors can change, and onions, garlic and some spices change or get bitter, but it doesn't mean it's unsafe to consume.

Our basement storage room naturally stays closer to optimum storage temperatures most of the year (well below 70°F), which increases the storage life. I also remove most food from the original packaging and vacuum-seal it in canning jars/FoodSaver bags to remove oxygen. The storage room doesn't have a window.

Even things like MREs (Meals Ready To Eat) you might consider "inert" have a shorter shelf-life the hotter the storage temperature. My Army Officer son-in-law (27-years in the service to date) sent me a chart from one of his several tours of duty in the "sandbox".

MRE Storage Life

60°F - 130 months

70°F - 100 months

80°F - 76 months

90°F - 55 months

100°F - 22 months

110°F - 5 months

120°F - 1 month

loonlake, thanks for the thoughtful and dispassionate comments.

Always open to new thoughts, I took a look at our food pantry. There's almost nothing among our normal food items that I would like a supply of. We eat little or no canned food, packaged items, frozen food or grains, When I said "Fresh is fresh", I was referring to eating habits (our own and that of many others) that focus on fresh meat, dairy products and seafood and fresh fruits and vegetables. Even fresh salsa (salsa fresca) is a staple, we never have canned or bottled stuff. All of this stuff spoils after a week or so and can't be stockpiled.

Yes, wine ages as do other items (like spirits) for which the passage of time is part of the production process. An exception is Beaujolais Nouveau, a wine released in November of the year of production after just a few weeks of fermenting and after no aging at all. Try it, it's good. Otherwise, most food degrades and becomes worse, not better, with time.

I've never heard the phrase "food insurance" and it sounds archaic, to be truthful. If your financial circumstances have some uncertainty, make yours a two-paycheck family. "Storing" money in the bank or other investments can give you far more security than sitting on a hoard of food. Having a job produces dollars, accumulating years of food can only produce cents in the greater scheme of things.

I understand that some have to make due on fixed or limited income. It's very reasonable for people so situated to make good use of store specials, product coupons (for what they normally use) and other thrifty practices. But taking that to an extreme isn't reasonable (in my mind). Mostpeople who have more flexibility and have greater monetary means want to manage their food acquisition and handling in the smallest amount of time and effort possible.

The Depression ended over 70 years ago. Most of us don't live on farms, don't grow our own food (except for veggie garden hobbyists), don't build up food supplies in a basement, and don't want to. Don't be saddened, loonlake, but rather accept that people accumulate habits and traditions and live in different circumstances from one place to another.

If food storage is your thing, do it without evangelizing. Heck, even my two (unrelated) Mormon friends pay only lip service to this particular teaching of their church. They think it's unnecessary and not worth the effort. An apocalypse isn't coming. I agree with them.

"We eat little or no canned food, packaged items, frozen food or grains,"

You may be misunderstanding some of the benefit to this. A lot of it is convenience and not having to go to the store multiple times a week as well as cost cutting. I do most of my own cooking, but I still use things like canned tomatoes, various beans and lentils, passata etc and I always stock up when these non perishables are on sale, often at 1/2 price. Not much point stocking up on full priced food.

I also keep plenty of chicken breasts and mince in the freezer. My butcher sells bulk chicken breast packs around 10+ lbs but it works out about 1/3 the cost of buying them from the supermarket in small packs of 1 or 2 because he sells them at a bulk price. All I have to do pack them in ziplock bags and I have months worth of chicken meat which I use a lot in cooking for various meals.

The other day I got a good deal on red bell peppers at the fruit and veg store. I only needed one but it was almost the same price to buy a pack of 6 and there is no way to use up 6 of them quickly, so I cut the rest into strips and froze them for asian recipes. Stockpiling food isn't about living on frozen meals or canned meals that you seem to be assuming, even healthy ingredients can be stored for a long time and you're not wasting time and gas money running to the store all the time and get to make good use of store discounts. Of course, if there is a convenience food at a good price that will work in a pinch, why not that too?

One thing that Loonlake said, we witness regularly.

The evening before a long weekend (Friday store closures) the grocery stores are packed. And it's not people buying food to go to the cottage, it's all year long. People seem to go into a panic mood when a store closes. Long are the days of no Sunday shopping and people just get used to buying 7 days/week.

The weekly sales are still current on Saturday, Sunday and the rest of the week, so we'll wait till then to do our shopping. In the meantime, we eat out of the pantry and freezer and frig.

I too stock up on sale items. Coffee, pasta, canned tomatoes, our favourite cereal, oatmeal, etc etc. I bought a few packages of orzo, and the lady in front of me wondered what I did with it. She had never used it.

I do my big grocery shopping on Friday afternoons. I don't leave the house on the weekend (except for my run or socializing) because traffic is too stupid to do so. I leave the weekend to those who work M-F and need to do their errands during that time.

Mmmm...Orzo with homemade lemon basil pesto! I freeze up pesto every summer in tiny cubes and use it until the next year's basil plants mature in July! Great with fish, chicken, or just by itself!

"I bought a few packages of orzo, and the lady in front of me wondered what I did with it. She had never used it."

I had to look that up jasdip because I've never heard of it either. Sounds similar to what is called risoni here.

I think Orzo is Greek version, Risoni the Italian version of rice shaped pasta.

I, too, grow Basil and had such a bumper crop [for me] last summer that I had to be inventive not to waste any. Did you know, Loon, that you can puree the leaves with a little olive oil...put the mixture in ice cube trays to freeze portions? Once frozen...transfer to a storage container of your choice. I found it's wonderful just to throw a Basil cube into cooking tomato sauce...or any sauce/soup/stew that would benefit from the addition of Basil.

I, also, freeze pesto but with only myself to feed on a regular basis...large quantities of frozen pesto can become wasteful...and can take up valuable freezer space considering I only have a frig top freezer.

Other home grown herbs I chop and freeze. With crop luck...I freeze enough every summer to last until the next summer crop.

Beyond this herb contribution...I've never actually taken a pantry survey but I could probably exist quite nicely for a few months without marketing for new stock...and I, also, buy my potable water supply in 5 gal. containers with a few always in stock.

The inherited survival skills of an old Yankee are invaluable although not as popular today as they once were.

"you can puree the leaves with a little olive oil...put the mixture in
ice cube trays to freeze portions? Once frozen...transfer to a storage
container of your choice."

I also freeze excess fresh basil. The way I do it is wash it, drain it, and package the leaves into individual packs of aluminium foil folded over it, then toss the packets into a container or ziplock bag into the freezer. I've read that some people say it goes black but mine seems to stay pretty green. It's also super easy to chop straight from the freezer (you just have to chop it straight away before it starts to soften). I use it mostly in pasta sauces, but I've even let the leaves soften and used them on pizza. I love being able to store food instead of it going to waste

Your freezer method, Trance, sounds interesting and I shall try it this summer. Thanks for adding to my repertoire of storage methods. I particularly like the ability to chop it before it completely thaws. Such good hints.

It thaws really quick anne, so I take it out and chop it straight away while it's still frozen and crispy, it's a breeze to chop when it's frozen. I treat parsley the same way, and no matter how much you have, you can process it all and get it in the freezer (I've read some people spread it out on a baking sheet first to freeze it) but this way is how I ended up because you're only constrained by how much aluminium foil you have :)

I've also taken basil and pureed it with 50/50 butter and olive oil (sometimes garlic olive oil). Put it in a quart ziplock and smooth it out flat to freeze. Just break off whatever size chunk you need for your pasta dish.

I chop my parsley and chives freshly washed and dried directly from my growing containers...then put the chopped herbs in plastic cup-like containers for the freezer and mark them with the date. I'm fond of this method because I can just grad a bit and sprinkle it on whatever dish I'm making. I've often wished I could do the same with the Basil...but it just doesn't freeze that well once it's been chopped. That's why your foil/freezer method is so appealing to me, Trance. I'm anxious to try it.

Loon...I would never have thought of your method but it makes perfect sense. Something else to try. Thanks! :-) I love all these new methods.

"If food storage is your thing, do it without evangelizing. Heck, even my two (unrelated) Mormon friends pay only lip service to this particular teaching of their church. They think it's unnecessary and not worth the effort."

I don't know where to start. Some LDS people can be just plain clueless about common sense storage. Not every LDS member makes good choices, and some do not do storage at all. Just as in any religion, there are guidelines, and not everyone follows them. All of us have free choice. But the storage teaching itself is positive and meaningful.

Just because you have two Mormon friends that do not do storage, you talk about it as if it was some sort of proof that it is unnecessary. That is ludicrous.

You reek of privilege, and it smells bad, to me. Some of the members here are trying to point out the importance of being prepared, and I personally think it is a good idea.

If you don't want to do it, don't. But you are taking a stance that almost mocks these women for their efforts.

I've never seen orzo pasta called anything but orzo. I learned something today, thank you!

I froze some basil last year in olive oil, in ice cube trays. I never think of using it my sauces,1 thanks for the reminder.

My lovage plant is going gang-busters this year. It's a tall green leafy perennial that tastes like celery. I'm going to freeze the leaves in foil this winter and try to preserve it. Thanks for that, Trance.

Huge article in a major newspaper recently. American's throw away an incredible amount of perfectly good food. Enough to feed an entire starving country!! Just because the FDA makes companies put dates on food does not mean it is not perfectly wholesome and 100% good long after. Those dates are SELL BY and it is assumed the product will be on home shelves for much much longer. The cocoa powder you used was likely to have been PERFECTLY potent. When it gets to be 10 years old--throw it out. Discussions like this drive me crazy. Americans are the most wasteful people!!!

Lucille, you can disagree with me all you want but personal comments don't add to the discussion. How very sad that you made such a poor choice.

Snidely, my
description of your writing as the writing of 'privilege' is just that.
How sad that you hide behind the skirts of 'personal comments' after you
suggest to women who may be trying to stay home and by economizing, give their
children the gift of their time that

"If your
financial circumstances have some uncertainty, make yours a two-paycheck
family. "

There is nothing wrong
with women working outside the home. But there is nothing wrong either
with learning to do with less and being prepared for adversity by storing what
one needs in an economical way.

And just so you
realize, since it appears to have escaped your privileged outlook, many two
paycheck families who do not live lavishly, are having hard times making ends
meet. Some food storage efforts might help them as well.

Lucille, I appreciate your thoughts. I do agree that Snidely is making some
assumptions and assertions that are in error.
It is sad that even in the affluent USA, many families are really only
about 9 meals away from hunger, and 3-4
paychecks away from falling into bankruptcy.

Snidely, it is very important for 1 income families to plan
and prepare for financial ups and downs.
They can do it admirably by making lifestyle choices which many may
consider very frugal. They should be
celebrated for that foresight and gumption! Many one income families would be WORSE off if the 2nd person went to work outside the home (day care costs, clothing, transportation and other expenses).

It is just as important for 2 income families to plan and
prepare – often the two incomes are necessary for daily living, and when one of
those incomes is interrupted, it could be a calamity. I am in a 2 income family, and we economize
in so many ways so we can live well and save for the future. We started out at zero (again) just 15 years
ago and have had a couple of trials in the meantime. Ready money is not always available – so “food
insurance” is very important to keep a family afloat.

Our savings (including retirement savings) in the past was wiped out several times – none in
our control.

1. Two lengthy job losses over the years – not eligible for
unemployment,

2. One 6 month serious illness – not covered by insurance,

3. An employer who folded – skipping out on paying our last
two paychecks and an entire year’s worth of tax withholdings (which we had to pay in again to the Feds/State) (and
we lost the health insurance we relied on-see above),

4. Finally, a financial institution failing that took away
an entire year’s worth of income that had been saved.

If worst comes to worst, the powers that be will not foreclose, garnish, or attach your food supply. Food stamps are not always available -- in everything that happened to us through the years, we only qualified for a total of 3 months of food stamps. We choose to grow our own, shop wisely, and store extras on hand so we can feed ourselves and others far more cheaply than those who choose not to economize the way we need to. I wish I could keep my food costs down as low as Grainlady's !

lucille, if you're unhappy with your life and the circumstances of it, anonymous taunting and name calling of someone who isn't doesn't change anything for you.

Nice try Snidely, but I'm perfectly happy with me, just not so happy with your continuing criticism of these women who were trying to help by their posts. Don't like it? Fine. You appear to think you are above food saving, so don't.

Grainlady said it very well:

"My advice is to stick to something you have actual knowledge about. Obviously home food storage isn't one of them, and it makes little difference to me whether you approve of it, or not. I know people who go to the grocery store once or twice a day, and it makes no difference to me that they do. But I also know they spend two or three times as much of food as I do. It's a CHOICE. You can have your opinion, but it's too bad you have to make me some kind of a target of your ignorance."

And my apologies to Grainlady, my valid outrage at Snidely's behavior is taking this thread off topic, so further posts by me will be on the worthy topic of storage.