I'm sure you already know, but before somebody else mentions it... a lot of times the "expiration date" is a "best when sold by" date, and "best" is entirely at the whim of the manufacturer. (I got schooled on this by a friend who worked for Nabisco, but I've seen similar things elsewhere.) So whether to pitch something has to be evaluat…
I'm sure you already know, but before somebody else mentions it... a lot of times the "expiration date" is a "best when sold by" date, and "best" is entirely at the whim of the manufacturer. (I got schooled on this by a friend who worked for Nabisco, but I've seen similar things elsewhere.) So whether to pitch something has to be evaluated for each kind of item.
So (for example) a can of black beans will probably be fully edible six months after the expiration date, and maybe longer if (like me) you will dump it in with chicken and salsa to make chili, so you won't be able to appreciate the full-bodied black bean flavor in any case.
Some items (my friend used dog biscuits as her example) never actually go bad, if left unopened. But they have "Sell by" dates because if left on the shelves too long they get dusty, so nobody buys them anyway.
OTOH, if something is open and in the fridge, the stamped date can indicate whether, perhaps, the item just needs to be chucked. Or at least examined for fuzzy spontaneous flavor additions.
Ahhh!!! I did learn some of this on my entrepreneurial food expedition. Despite all of the regulations, choosing a “best by” date was completely at my discretion. Odd!
I did a little research on nuts and seeds and randomly chose 9 months from date of manufacture.🤷♀️
Also part of that escapade had me enrolled in a serve safe food safety class. The instructor left her fingerprints on me. I never defrost meat on the counter anymore and I scrub all melons with soap and warm water before slicing.
When in doubt… I throw it out. A bout a food poisoning is never worth it to save a few bucks. 🤷♀️
Good point! Fresh stuff scares me more than packaged stuff. I can never judge quite right with some fresh foods. And then there was the time a melon seemed fine on the outside, but had mold on the *inside* — wait, how was that even *possible*? 😳
I'm sure you already know, but before somebody else mentions it... a lot of times the "expiration date" is a "best when sold by" date, and "best" is entirely at the whim of the manufacturer. (I got schooled on this by a friend who worked for Nabisco, but I've seen similar things elsewhere.) So whether to pitch something has to be evaluated for each kind of item.
So (for example) a can of black beans will probably be fully edible six months after the expiration date, and maybe longer if (like me) you will dump it in with chicken and salsa to make chili, so you won't be able to appreciate the full-bodied black bean flavor in any case.
Some items (my friend used dog biscuits as her example) never actually go bad, if left unopened. But they have "Sell by" dates because if left on the shelves too long they get dusty, so nobody buys them anyway.
OTOH, if something is open and in the fridge, the stamped date can indicate whether, perhaps, the item just needs to be chucked. Or at least examined for fuzzy spontaneous flavor additions.
Nia's pantry organization, btw, gets hearty applause! 👏
Ahhh!!! I did learn some of this on my entrepreneurial food expedition. Despite all of the regulations, choosing a “best by” date was completely at my discretion. Odd!
I did a little research on nuts and seeds and randomly chose 9 months from date of manufacture.🤷♀️
Also part of that escapade had me enrolled in a serve safe food safety class. The instructor left her fingerprints on me. I never defrost meat on the counter anymore and I scrub all melons with soap and warm water before slicing.
When in doubt… I throw it out. A bout a food poisoning is never worth it to save a few bucks. 🤷♀️
Good point! Fresh stuff scares me more than packaged stuff. I can never judge quite right with some fresh foods. And then there was the time a melon seemed fine on the outside, but had mold on the *inside* — wait, how was that even *possible*? 😳