Results 1 to 34 of 34

Thread: Eating Expired Food

  1. #1
    Ritella's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    at your feet
    Posts
    2,092
    Mentioned
    4 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Default Eating Expired Food

    My ESE friend throws stuff out immediately after it expires. I'm like "WTF are you doing?! Give it to me. I'll eat it."
    It's a rule of thumb, not a rule.
    Anyone act like the ESE? This is completely bizarre to me.
    EII; E6(w5)

    i am flakey

  2. #2
    Ritella's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    at your feet
    Posts
    2,092
    Mentioned
    4 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Default

    I feel like this is so Ti-valuing. The manufacturers just put the expiry on things so that they can't be held liable if it's bad past that date. It doesn't mean it actually is bad.
    EII; E6(w5)

    i am flakey

  3. #3
    I had words here once, but I didn't feed them Khola aka Bee's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    TIM
    Meat Popsicle
    Posts
    3,566
    Mentioned
    4 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Default

    After a few bad experiences, I just can't do it. I have to throw anything out that is use by "today's date" or later. Absolutely HAVE to throw it out. The other thing is if it is a consumable that lasts a long time (like powdered milk or something) and it's been sitting there ages and is use-by in a week or so, I'd probably throw that out too. Or anything like that that might be well within use by but has been open for more than about three months. Out it goes. Same with any jams or etc. I find open in the pantry, and not in the fridge where they belong (ugh!)....

    I just...can't stand the idea of serving someone bad food. Bad enough if I eat it, but I would be mortified if I made someone else sick. But I am seriously the world's most anal-retentive cook. Every surface I'm working with has to be spotless before I even start cooking or I end up getting a bit of a complex.....ask Errant, he's seen me cook. It took me 45 minutes to clean the kitchen to an acceptable level once when he was over, lol!

    The other thing is that if I'm cleaning surfaces I go over them again with hot water after I've sprayed them, in case I need to use a surface and any food "happens" to get on the bench (think kneading or something, but I use a chopping board on top of that)... I don't want anything spoiling my intentions with the flavours and emotions evoked when it comes to cooking. It has to be perfect.



    ...I think this has to do with the fact that not all germs are going to be visible- I did a lot of advanced biology and etc back in school and I'm well aware that levels of bacteria in certain things can be high enough to harm you without being visible. I don't like the idea of that spoiling the experience of my cooking.
    Hello, my name is Bee. Pleased to meet you .



  4. #4
    Your DNA is mine. Mediator Kam's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Wisconsin
    TIM
    SEI
    Posts
    4,477
    Mentioned
    4 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Default

    yes, you don't risk expiry dates. Never.
    D-SEI 9w1

    This is me and my dual being scientific together

  5. #5
    I had words here once, but I didn't feed them Khola aka Bee's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    TIM
    Meat Popsicle
    Posts
    3,566
    Mentioned
    4 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Default

    I DON'T LIKE MY BEANS FRATERNISING WITH GERMS, NO SIREE!
    Hello, my name is Bee. Pleased to meet you .



  6. #6
    I've been waiting for you Satan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Behind you
    TIM
    sle sp/sx 845
    Posts
    4,927
    Mentioned
    149 Post(s)
    Tagged
    16 Thread(s)

    Default

    i ditch it

  7. #7
    Creepy-

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Ritella View Post
    My ESE friend throws stuff out immediately after it expires. I'm like "WTF are you doing?! Give it to me. I'll eat it."
    It's a rule of thumb, not a rule.
    Anyone act like the ESE? This is completely bizarre to me.
    It's bizarre to me too [and my ESE aunt does the same thing]. It isn't too often that food is left over after the expiration date, but if it is and it looks and smells okay, I'll taste it... if it tastes okay, it's as good as eaten in full. I've never had any problems with this method.

    One reason I don't worry about it is that I suspect companies bump the exp. date up at least a couple of days because if people throw the product out on the expiration date, they'll surely rush right out to buy replacements.

  8. #8
    redbaron's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Posts
    9,315
    Mentioned
    17 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Default

    lol My ESE husband and my IEI friend both throw things out right on the date. I, however, am willing to take a few more risks. NOT with meat. But cottage cheese, yogurt, cheese, milk (unless it smells), stuff like that I hold onto. I read an article once that said that packaged lunchmeats are good for WAY longer than the date stamped on them because they're washed in this high-power machine or something. Anyway, the food companies don't feel like they can make the dates any longer or else people wouldn't believe them. I know it sounds odd. I read that somewhere.
    IEI-Fe 4w3

  9. #9
    jessica129's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Posts
    10,121
    Mentioned
    77 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Default

    I never look at expiration dates. So long as it doesn't stink or have mold, I eat it.

  10. #10
    Creepy-Diana

    Default

    .

  11. #11
    Snomunegot munenori2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Kansas
    TIM
    Introvert sp/sx
    Posts
    7,742
    Mentioned
    34 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Default

    I test it if it's expired, but I tend to toss it altogether if it's a week or so over (for things like milk, but that's an easy one to test). I actually reflected over eating some eggs that expired back last september, but I'll need to give them the floater test before I take that leap. Things that keep forever anyway, like canned foods, I don't feel bad about eating expired at all, unless I open them up and decide otherwise.

    Overall though, I don't mind germs much, I figure over the years they've just refined my antibodies into well oiled killing machines.
    Moonlight will fall
    Winter will end
    Harvest will come
    Your heart will mend

  12. #12
    Creepy-bg

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by jessica129 View Post
    I never look at expiration dates. So long as it doesn't stink or have mold, I eat it.
    this

    although i ate the worst bacon once... it had definately gone bad... lol but i was hungry so i still ate it and it wasn't that bad actually. didn't get sick.

  13. #13
    Creepy-

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by munenori2 View Post

    Overall though, I don't mind germs much, I figure over the years they've just refined my antibodies into well oiled killing machines.
    Exactly.

  14. #14
    Creepy-bg

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by munenori2 View Post
    Overall though, I don't mind germs much, I figure over the years they've just refined my antibodies into well oiled killing machines.
    this is exactly how i feel about it.

  15. #15

    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    NYC
    Posts
    1,833
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Default

    I've found that the "bad dates" and the appearance of the food match up. Any time I've wanted to get an extra day out of something, it already has that ominous look of "I'm so about to be bad!" You know, like maybe extra condensation in a package, or salad that is just a little too wrinkly around the edges, etc., and so stuff is probably growing already. It is a bad way to try to save money because if it makes you sick then you waste days of work and money for the dr.

    I'd rather take my risks in other, more fun ways.
    Hi! I'm an ENFP. :-)

  16. #16

    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    854
    Mentioned
    2 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Ritella View Post
    My ESE friend throws stuff out immediately after it expires. I'm like "WTF are you doing?! Give it to me. I'll eat it."
    It's a rule of thumb, not a rule.
    Anyone act like the ESE? This is completely bizarre to me.
    This is the exact opposite thing that happens with my sister (ESE) and me. She gets really pissed if I just throw stuff out because she thinks it's wasting or something.. but I am totally freaked out about eating old food. Also, if I eat something and then find out later that it has passed the expiry date I will start to feel ill, basically make up in my head that I am sick even if I was feeling fine.
    EII 4w5

    so/sx (?)

  17. #17

    Join Date
    May 2006
    Posts
    5,086
    Mentioned
    7 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Default

    I won't touch anything expired when it comes to food, milk I won't drink if it's even close to it, like within 3 days...lol. I trick myself that it's bad and will kill me if I eat stuff past it's due date. Much like Christy mentioned, if I eat something and find out it's past due I may even feel ill, probably a true placebo effect... but it happens nonetheless.

  18. #18
    implied's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    7,747
    Mentioned
    7 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Ritella View Post
    My ESE friend throws stuff out immediately after it expires. I'm like "WTF are you doing?! Give it to me. I'll eat it."
    It's a rule of thumb, not a rule.
    Anyone act like the ESE? This is completely bizarre to me.

    my ENFj mother eats expired food, and it is absolutely disgusting. one day i actually reminded her that we are not in the "end of days" as she tends to refer to, and that eating bread that is about to go moldy is gross. but she'll totally eat things that really are about 5 minutes from growing massive spore colonies.

    on the other hand if something still looked/smelled good and was a day past expiration, i doubt i'd care much.

    re: antibodies - probably a good thing.
    6w5 sx
    model Φ: -+0
    sloan - rcuei

  19. #19

    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Posts
    214
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Default

    Over the years, I have toughened my stomach as well as testing out different dates. I tend to trust the dates printed as I've physically observed that eating things past their due date the sheer majority of the time has a negative effect, and I can withstand all kinds of (fresh) junk.

    The worst case was probably when I drank a pepsi out of the fridge of this one ILE. It was literally almost a decade past its expiration date. If you ever plan on drinking expired coke, do not!!!

    Honestly, I do not get people who knowingly keep expired food. I find non-degrading foods very strange and unnatural, something perhaps inspired by my valuing family.
    Surtout, pas trop de zèle.

  20. #20

    Default

    I generally plan ahead, and eat everything before the expiration date, and I don't buy excess food.

    If there's lot of food, usually when my mom has given me, I just eat them in the order of expiration dates. So they won't expire.

    But if all these measures have failed for some reason. I usually have thrown them away. I might nuke them twice as long, if it's only one day old.
    ...the human race will disappear. Other races will appear and disappear in turn. The sky will become icy and void, pierced by the feeble light of half-dead stars. Which will also disappear. Everything will disappear. And what human beings do is just as free of sense as the free motion of elementary particles. Good, evil, morality, feelings? Pure 'Victorian fictions'.

    INTp

  21. #21

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by ZTCrawcrustle View Post
    The worst case was probably when I drank a pepsi out of the fridge of this one ILE. It was literally almost a decade past its expiration date. If you ever plan on drinking expired coke, do not!!!
    I once bought a pepsi bottle, and it had this weird yellowish-brown blob inside it. Looked bit like the fleshy part of an oyster. I probably should have gone back to the store and demand a new bottle. But I didn't bother.
    ...the human race will disappear. Other races will appear and disappear in turn. The sky will become icy and void, pierced by the feeble light of half-dead stars. Which will also disappear. Everything will disappear. And what human beings do is just as free of sense as the free motion of elementary particles. Good, evil, morality, feelings? Pure 'Victorian fictions'.

    INTp

  22. #22

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Hostage_Child View Post
    With bread becoming moldy, unless it's really bad, we just cut off the parts where mold is in there and eat what is left. Same goes for fruit.
    I just store my breads in the fridge, in the vegetable compartment, they don't get moldy or dry that way.
    ...the human race will disappear. Other races will appear and disappear in turn. The sky will become icy and void, pierced by the feeble light of half-dead stars. Which will also disappear. Everything will disappear. And what human beings do is just as free of sense as the free motion of elementary particles. Good, evil, morality, feelings? Pure 'Victorian fictions'.

    INTp

  23. #23

    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    NYC
    Posts
    1,833
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Warlord View Post
    I once bought a pepsi bottle, and it had this weird yellowish-brown blob inside it. Looked bit like the fleshy part of an oyster. I probably should have gone back to the store and demand a new bottle. But I didn't bother.
    did you drink it? If so, what did the blob taste like?
    Hi! I'm an ENFP. :-)

  24. #24

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by jewels View Post
    did you drink it? If so, what did the blob taste like?
    I first removed the blob, in the intention of drinking the pepsi, because I didn't want it to go to waste. But then decided not to in the end.
    Last edited by Warlord; 01-28-2009 at 08:04 AM.
    ...the human race will disappear. Other races will appear and disappear in turn. The sky will become icy and void, pierced by the feeble light of half-dead stars. Which will also disappear. Everything will disappear. And what human beings do is just as free of sense as the free motion of elementary particles. Good, evil, morality, feelings? Pure 'Victorian fictions'.

    INTp

  25. #25
    Creepy-Cyclops

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Ritella View Post
    My ESE friend throws stuff out immediately after it expires. I'm like "WTF are you doing?! Give it to me. I'll eat it."
    It's a rule of thumb, not a rule.
    Anyone act like the ESE? This is completely bizarre to me.
    You're best eating them while they're still alive.

  26. #26
    Hot Message FDG's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    North Italy
    TIM
    ENTj
    Posts
    16,806
    Mentioned
    245 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Default

    Depends on what type of food it is. I don't care about expired sugar, salt, or even bread (even though usually bread isn't very tasty), or canned drinks or cereals. However, of course, I don't eat expired fish, meat, or anything that must be eaten relatively fresh.
    Obsequium amicos, veritas odium parit

  27. #27
    Eldanen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Southeastern USA
    TIM
    ILI 5w4 sx/??
    Posts
    489
    Mentioned
    17 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Default

    I test food if it has gone over the expiration date. Most food that I buy is fresh vegetation, so I can tell by looking, smelling, tasting, whatever. The date is just an abstraction on a label. Sometimes it's right, sometimes wrong. Occasionally, food will go bad /before/ the expiration date.

    I've eaten questionably-fresh meat before and I didn't get sick.

  28. #28
    redbaron's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Posts
    9,315
    Mentioned
    17 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by dolphin View Post
    We never have any expired food at my house, everything always gets eaten too fast.

    When we go over to my grandma's, its always a little startling to realize she has canned food from back in the 90s. And she never throws anything out. Ever. But that's probably because she was raised in the Great Depression.
    LOL! Everything gets eaten pretty quickly around here also. And my mother-in-law always has REALLY OLD canned stuff at her house that I feel needs to be thrown away.

    lol @ cracka! I have to say, my husband is definitely more concerned with expiration dates than I am. He's always saying "is this good?" "how long has this been in here?" "am I the only one who throws away food in this family?" hahaha
    IEI-Fe 4w3

  29. #29
    Twist-Tie Spider iAnnAu's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Knoxhell TN
    Posts
    987
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Eldanen View Post
    I test food if it has gone over the expiration date. Most food that I buy is fresh vegetation, so I can tell by looking, smelling, tasting, whatever. The date is just an abstraction on a label. Sometimes it's right, sometimes wrong. Occasionally, food will go bad /before/ the expiration date.
    This.

    I have a lot less to worry about because I don't eat meat or eggs or drink milk. I do eat cheese, but I can't stand bleu, gorgonzola, etc - they taste like mold and nothing else to me.

    I am extremely sensitive to mold - I can smell it way before most other people. We had to stop using a sponge because I could smell when it got moldy sometimes from two rooms away, and my SO couldn't smell it even when he was using it! (Now we use a dishrag & wash it often - I would wash the sponge and it would STILL smell moldy.) So I guess I have a high level of confidence in giving stuff the sniff-test, too.

    I'm also very picky about texture, so I have standards for my fresh food. For example, if an apple has bad spots that doesn't make the entire apple bad, but I definitely have to cut the spots off because they're mushy, and the mouth-feel is utterly repellent. And celery that goes limp may taste the same but I can't fucking chew it ... I can forgive some off flavors, such as parsley that's gone bitter, as long as the texture doesn't go against my expectations.

    I recently finished off a loaf of bread that was weeks past its expired date. I kept giving it the sniff test and it wasn't moldy, so I used it for some damn tasty sammiches. But it makes me think the bread probably wasn't very nutritious - if the microbes don't think it's food, my body probably can't get much out of it, either.
    Quote Originally Posted by Charles Bukowski
    We're all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn't. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing.
    SLI

  30. #30

    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Posts
    1,276
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Default

    Ugh. Moldy sponges are the worst ever. And you're right, even if you boil them, wash them, whatever, you won't get rid of the mildew smell.

    I had a loaf of bread that I left on top of my fridge for 6 months. It was for a recipe - it's not a type that I like for sandwiches. After 3 months, I remembered it and saw there wasn't a spot of mold on it. Then it became an experiment to see how long it could go with no mold on it. After 6 months there STILL wasn't a spot on there. This was even in the spring/summer months when everything in Atlanta molds in a week because of the humidity. I don't know what they put in the bread, but I decided to get my bread from a real bakery. (ie - whole grains, no preservatives) I don't like the thought of eating so many weird chemicals and preservatives that a loaf of bread will last over six months.

    I will eat some things past the expiration date, but I hate anything with a stale texture. I will trim mold off of a block of cheese if it's a small spot and I intend to use it just one more time. Most things, though, like bottled condiments and stuff, I use so rarely that often it will be a year past the date before I realize that I bought it and only used it a couple times. Those get tossed! Overall I just go by smell and appearance.
    IEE

  31. #31
    Darn Socks DirectorAbbie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Southwest USA
    TIM
    LSE
    Posts
    7,123
    Mentioned
    382 Post(s)
    Tagged
    2 Thread(s)

    Default

    If it's just a few days expired, we sniff it to see whether it's still good. If it's like a month expired, we trash it.

    LSE
    1-6-2 so/sx
    Johari Nohari

    Quote Originally Posted by Ritella View Post
    Over here, we'll put up with (almost) all of your crap. You just have to use the secret phrase: "I don't value it. It's related to <insert random element here>, which is not in my quadra."
    Quote Originally Posted by Aquagraph View Post
    Abbie is so boring and rigid it's awesome instead of boring and rigid. She seems so practical and down-to-the-ground.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •