Expiration Date Paranoia

[Mike]

Well, I don't think I'm paranoid, but I am much more responsive than I used to be. God knows how I managed to live until now, because the only thing I can remember having a date was milk. We used to eat lunch meat when it was so pasty, it would stick to Teflon! Somehow, I lived through it.

Now, if I see a date, I can't bring myself to put it in my head. Even POP! Fortunately, Diet Coke only lasts a few days with me, so no danger there.

Dairy, deli meat, eggs, ketchup, cereal... just about anything has a date and tastes different in my head. I can't bring myself to drink a sip of milk a few days past the expiration date. :verysick In the U.S., medication has a date, but missionary doctors will happily use them in other parts of the work.

So, what about you? Do these expiration dates cause you to pause more than they once did? Is it just a way for them to sell more in some cases?

 

[Nick]

Yeah, I stick to the the dates, particularly for dairy products. Pretty much everything has an expiry date except alcohol.

Often it's not hard to stick to the dates, though. Lots of stuff is packed with so many preservatives it lasts forever. I remember (and I'm only 19) when yoghurt used to expire in about a week, and now they last for about six!

 

[Pebbles]

Taste is a Qualitiative experience much more than a quantativie one. Humans have a rather weak sense of taste all things considered.
I Can't stand mushrooms, They are extremely unpleasant to me. however I love fishy tasting fish. (Anchovies Kippers ect)
My mother is the opposite.

There are only very mild mechanical differences in our tastebuds so why do we percive them so radically differently?

The answer is habit... About 20% is evolutionary instinctive bias towards certain foods (Like fats and sugars) The other 80% is just habit... usually laid down from our childhoods or preconcived notions of what we think things ought to taste like. Try serving food where you've dyed it odd colours pepole will think it tastes worse than normal food.

Simply If you think a food is gonna taste wrong... Chances are it probably will.

As for the sellby dates... I work in a supermarket trust me the dates are invalid. Usually once a week or so I will encounter the phenominon of "green bacon" where a pack of bacon is OBVIOUSLY gone wrong and is starting to fester begin a dull green/grey in colour and sweating... usually caused by contamination at the packing plant but it's still legally before it's sell by date. Other times out of date bacon can be perfectly edible determined by various factors how cold the fridges it was stored in were, How the animal was slaughtered (trace amounts of blood can make meat rot quicker,) How long it was kept out of a fridge ect.

Regardless of the exipiry on bread you can get half a month without mould in the fridge and about a week in a cupboard.

I often eat out of date food, I don't even check the date most of the time... I judge food based on "ignorent" taste and apperance, Dose the milk taste or smell foul/Have chunks in it. Is the bread obviously mouldy.

 

[bigllama]

I always joke that if the package says "best before", then its still good afterwards

But here in Ireland, they usually say "use before". About a week ago, I drank some milk at around 11pm on the day it expired. The next day, it was like a volcanic eruption, and afterwards I really wished that the bathroom in my apartment had a fan in it.

 

[jasoncran]

mike i dont know how you drink diet sodas and not crave sugar madly.

and i dont drink sodas after the expiration

 

[Free]

I just eat candy. That stuff will last forever.




Actually, with dairy lately, it's been starting to get a funny smell a day or two before the expiry date. I don't mess with that with any dairy, eggs, deli meats, condiments....I guess everything with a date. Yeah, I'm a bit paranoid about it, for no other reason other than I've known people who have had food poisoning. Not something I want.

 

[D4Christ]

We used to eat lunch meat when it was so pasty, it would stick to Teflon!

Great....thanks for the visual...I just had a gag reflex.

....and yes I look at dates. I don't even like to eat non dairy products close to a date. You've got to wonder if something expires in a month or two...how long has it been on the shelf. Ewwww..

Dee

 

[Lehigh3]

mike i dont know how you drink diet sodas and not crave sugar madly.

Well, it's simple, diet coke & m&ms.

Now I'm thinking about that homemade apple pie & cheesecake.

Oh yes, it always, absolutely has to be very fresh or I won't eat it!

 

[jasoncran]

Well, it's simple, diet coke & m&ms.

Now I'm thinking about that homemade apple pie & cheesecake.

Oh yes, it always, absolutely has to be very fresh or I won't eat it!

gatorade fixed that.

 

[for_his_glory]

If it taste bad or smells bad I judge my products by the nose and eye system whether I will eat it or not as most dates are there for store use expiration to be taken off the shelf when they reach these dates but are still viable for partaking. Other than milk everything else gets eaten up pretty fast in my house.