I recognize that “best before” means exactly what it says
Me.
If it’s after the BB date it means you have to use your sense and senses to make the determination.
It’s not going to magically be super bad when it’s the BB date +1.
Let me put it this way: They print expiration dates on SALT.
Now, it’s pretty convenient that stores here in Denmark sell products cheaper just before they “expire” because certain products actually get better with time like cheese.
Safe to say I’m the second type hehe…because certain products actually get better with time like cheese.
Under the right conditions. Sitting on grocery shelves is not one of those right conditions.
In rare cases white mold cheese will taste like blue mold cheese because of cross contamination, but that’s about the only defect I’ve experienced buying cheese close to their expiration dates. Oh, and camembert cheeses being a bit too runny and ammonia tasting, but as a sicko I kind of like that.
I used to work at a cheese and wine joint, and there are some foul abominations out there. You’re a stinky cheese fella aren’t you?
You’re a stinky cheese fella aren’t you?
Well, I am dairy man, so I’ve seen, smelled and tasted a lot of funky stuff.
I’ve been coming around to blue cheese but that’s about as deep as I get.
Idk if you got a mod pizza nearby but they’ve got kind of an odd BBQ chicken pizza that has Gorgonzola on it, and that thing is incredible. I never do chicken on pizza but that’s a quality exception.
I don’t know if it’s correct, but for the first type I once read that it might be because of the packaging and/or the interaction between product and packaging that might affect the product. And even if it would still be “never expires”, the company doesn’t want to pay to verify.
It’s about liability. Companies don’t want their salt returned to them after x years, especially not with some lame excuse. So they just define an expiration date y that’s far off enough to not drive customers away, but still minimizes the risk of complaints.
If a (big) customer successfully complains within this time span, they’ll simply decrease it.As someone who has gone through old stuff like that, imo it’s the packaging (a lot of which these days is coated in plastics that degrade over time) that the expiration date is for rather than the actual product. Eg the cardboard will break down or the cans will rust into the product.
There are different types of dates in the US. Few things have expiration dates, which means it can be dangerous (or, for medication, ineffective) after that date. Most things have “best before” dates, which means the company has tested the product that far from its production and found it still met the quality standard.
The problem is that the FDA requires that testing and that every product have such a date. People have mentioned salt, which is inert, having a date, and that’s probably the most ridiculous example, but there are lots of things that have super long shelf lives beyond the best buy dates. Honey, soy sauce, bottled water, and vinegar being examples that come to mind.
Old plastic bottled water can have chemicals from the plastic leached in to it that you wouldn’t want to ingest though.
True, but unless you know what conditions the bottles were in it’s not worth messing with one bottled 3 years ago.
Like when people keep water in thier car and it goes crazy hot in the summer.
Right, and doing that can make it go above levels even before the best buy date. But bottled water that isn’t allowed to get really hot doesn’t have a known expiration.
Do they ship those bottles in climate controlled trucks? Are there regulations requiring that the plastic bottles never reach excess temps when stored/during commercial transport?
No clue. Not making any claims other than that there’s no known expiration for water that’s not subject to excess heat.
Expiration dates are a myth
Most things taste off or stale anywhere near the expression date.
If you can afford it and it’s a wildly overproduced thing like milk, I certainly wouldn’t encourage you to force it down.
If it’s scarce, don’t do it again. Maybe force it down. Probably use it in something where the lessened/worsened taste becomes a non-issue.
My wife just threw out a ~12 hour old fried rice we doggy bagged last night that I was planning on lunching on because we “touched it with our spoons”. Sigh.
She does know that reheating leftovers is a thing, and that heat kills bacteria, right?
It was in the fridge for 11 of those 12 hours!
Expiration dates are useful, but they are not usually a hard end point to a food’s safety or edibility.
One’s own nose is usually the best way to see if old food is edible. Doesn’t smell good enough to eat? Don’t eat it.
My sense of smell is pretty bad. I only keep milk in my fridge for coffee so it lasts a while, and once it’s past the date I smell it every day assuming it could have gone bad. Usually it hasn’t, but occasionally it has curdled into chunks, and apparently I can’t tell the difference with my nose - only once the pour feels “off” or the chunks make their way into my coffee can I have any better indicator.
Oh they’re real. They’re just arbitrary most of the time.
Expiration dates have a lot of leeway.
I recognize that “best by” dates are mostly bullshit, but I’m also a firm believer in “why risk it?” Especially for food where you can’t tell if it’s gone bad, like canned goods. I don’t fuck around with botulism.
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In Japan they have two types of dates, which map to “Use by” and “Best before”, but they don’t use them interchangeably or some vague middle-of-the-road term like “expiry date”. One is operative, the other is a recommendation.
消費期限 (shouhi-kigen) literally means “consumption time limit” and 賞味期限 (shoumi-kigen) literally means “guarantee of taste time limit”.
Germany does that too.
Especially minced meat always is “use by” and you really should respect that. Someone I know went to the hospital for that.
Many years ago (I was there) expiration dates were useful and only on products that would actually expire–mostly just milk, cheese, and meat.
Then, I think it was Budweiser came up with the “born on date” marketing campaign for beer. Since then, on anything that doesn’t actually expire, like beer, it’s been used to prompt people to throw away perfectly good food, so they’ll hopefully buy more “fresh” food.
It’s been going on for so many years, we now have at least two generations who have been duped into believing them.
Best By dates are not expiration dates, expiration dates are estimates.
That said, my wife has no concept of expiration until something is obviously covered in mold, and says some wild stuff. “Oh that’s got lemon juice in it, it doesn’t expire” like babe, lemon juice isn’t some timeless magic spell.
i’m the person that understands the conflict of interest between companies and the creation of their own expiration dates.
In the US, expiration dates aren’t a thing. The date on the product is just the last date the company will guarantee it meets their quality standards.
With one exception. Baby food/formula. Those companies do not fuck around with the dates, because they got regulated.
Are you sure you do? Expiration dates are a factor when buying food, longer shelf life usually boosts sales.
Source: worked for a time making machines specifically for enhancing the shelf life of a specific product.
My wife is servsafe certified and I have a terrible sense of smell. Guess which one I am?
