Expiration Dates

[bleedorange]

I need to clarify my answer too, since I was only thinking of food. I don't throw out expired prescriptions because I know they just lose potency over time. But food is another story. I throw it out as soon as it expires. My husband will eat anything in the fridge. If bread is less than 25% mold he'll pick off the moldy bits and eat it anyway.

 

It's funny that you mention this because I was just discussing expiration dates with my mother last night. Has anyone else noticed that the "sell by" date on milk has gone from a week maximum to upwards of a month? What exactly are they doing to the milk that makes it last 3 or 4 times as long as it used to? Does it all have to do with the advent of light safe containers or have they actually changed the milk?

 

 

I've only noticed the longer expiration times on organic milk. The regular milk still seems the same, at least in my store.

[stooka]

lunchmeat - Smell test, even if ok on the exp date. Expired = trash

 

milk - smell test. If date expired and it passes the smell test, proceed with taste test. A couple of times a year, we end up with milk that stays good even 10 days past expiration. "Magic Milk"

 

eggs - exp date

 

medicine - Since I'm a nurse, I will refrain from comment on this one.

 

bread - Visual inspection, then smell - I also select from beyond the heel and first two slices.

 

 

Just this last weekend, I found a bottle of shrimp cocktail sauce from 2002. Our fridge can get pretty scary.

[bleedorange]

bread - Visual inspection, then smell - I also select from beyond the heel and first two slices.

 

I do this, too, and it drives my wife crazy for some reason.

[lost highway]

My biggest weird food expiration thing is jarred pasta sauces because you're supposed to use them within a week of opening. I always pull it out of the fridge and then can't remember when it was originally opened but I'm afraid to test it in case there was fuzz growing on it before I shook it around taking it out of the fridge.

 

Yeah whats the deal with those? Before you open them they're good for like a year and a half. Do they really get bad after opening, and leaving in the fridge for two weeks?

[caliber66]

Yeah whats the deal with those? Before you open them they're good for like a year and a half. Do they really get bad after opening, and leaving in the fridge for two weeks?

Yes. Are you not familiar with how canning works?

[austrya]

I think milk that is ULTRA pasteurized lasts longer. Most organic milk is ultra pasteurized.

 

I'll just stick to the hormone free pasteurized stuff until I can get my hands on some raw milk. I need to make friends with a dairy farmer though as it's illegal to sell it in Michigan.

[bjorn_skurj]

I think milk that is ULTRA pasteurized lasts longer. Most organic milk is ultra pasteurized.

 

I'll just stick to the hormone free pasteurized stuff until I can get my hands on some raw milk. I need to make friends with a dairy farmer though as it's illegal to sell it in Michigan.

http://forums.viachicago.org/index.php?s=&...t&p=1145719

[froggie]

i still have a bottle of mercurochrome that my parents bought back in the 1970s. i assume its over the use by date nowadays and i still use it

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merbromin

[jenbobblehead]

One of the only things I will use past their "expiration date" is eggs in baking because old eggs somehow work better than fresh eggs. Everything else goes in the trash--meds, foods, drinks, even canned stuff. why risk it?

[blue_94_trooper]

Milk has a sell-by date, not an expiration date. It's usually good for about a week past that. It goes faster after it's opened and also the more fat, the faster it spoils. If it doesn't smell bad, it's fine. You'd have to have a pretty bad cold to let a glass of spoiled milk get by your nose.

 

I don't think deli meats have expirations either, unless for maybe pre-packaged. Ham will last a lot longer than turkey or beef. Salami is good for a millenium.

 

For most cheese I'll just cut off the nasty parts.

 

Meds, especially pills, I'll go a year or so past expiration. That timeframe can go up significantly if it's the last in the house and I don't feel like going out for whatever it is.

[jayrtip]

As many has stated medications lose potency, no news here. As a last year pharmacy student I like to advice people to turn in "expired" pharmaceuticals into a local pharmacy for proper destroying. Especially true for antibiotics, and pain meds (vicodin, dilaudid, oxycodone etc) with the antibiotics, you're asking to develop antibiotic resistance when you take half the bottle and save the rest for later. with the pain meds if you have kids in the house hold you're just asking for a bad situation.

 

but thats my opinion that no one will care to read.

 

the other day i had some ground up turkey, expired by one day. chucked it in the trash and got some fresh. and they were Goddamn delicious.

[caliber66]

As many has stated medications lose potency, no news here. As a last year pharmacy student I like to advice people to turn in "expired" pharmaceuticals into a local pharmacy for proper destroying. Especially true for antibiotics, and pain meds (vicodin, dilaudid, oxycodone etc) with the antibiotics, you're asking to develop antibiotic resistance when you take half the bottle and save the rest for later. with the pain meds if you have kids in the house hold you're just asking for a bad situation.

Not to mention that meds in the landfill or poured down the toilet make their way into the local drinking water.

[kimcatch22]

Time machines and/or wormholes are involved.

wrong thread?

[yermom]

why risk it?

To save money, of course! (Or at least that's why I would do.)

[Sandoz]

I think milk that is ULTRA pasteurized lasts longer. Most organic milk is ultra pasteurized.

 

I'll just stick to the hormone free pasteurized stuff until I can get my hands on some raw milk. I need to make friends with a dairy farmer though as it's illegal to sell it in Michigan.

 

Christy, I would highly recommend that you (AND YOUR KIDDOS) avoid raw milk. Too many infectious diseases can be transmitted from raw milk. I have taken care of children who have been infected with E coli O157H7 or Brucella from consuming raw milk or unpasteurized cheese. A few babies had kidney failure and required dialysis. I took care of one who died.

 

I am not sure why pasteurization seems to be frowned upon in this thread and in the cheese thread. It's extremely weird to me when scientific advances which have clearly saved thousands, probably millions of lives, get bad press. Like pasteurization and immunizations (dont get me started!!!)...

[blue_94_trooper]

Christy, I would highly recommend that you (AND YOUR KIDDOS) avoid raw milk. Too many infectious diseases can be transmitted from raw milk. I have taken care of children who have been infected with E coli O157H7 or Brucella from consuming raw milk or unpasteurized cheese. A few babies had kidney failure and required dialysis. I took care of one who died.

 

Maybe that's why it's illegal in Michigan (and most other places too)

[austrya]

Oh, I'm sure that's why it's illegal. I wouldn't let the kids drink it. I don't drink milk, I just want to use it to make cheese to see how it turns out.

 

Pasteurized milk doesn't seem to work as well and ultra-pasteurized doesn't work at all.

[bjorn_skurj]

I am not sure why pasteurization seems to be frowned upon in this thread and in the cheese thread. It's extremely weird to me when scientific advances which have clearly saved thousands, probably millions of lives, get bad press. Like pasteurization and immunizations (dont get me started!!!)...

Because both have been around so long that nobody remembers what it was like before these things existed, and thus they are taken for granted and fall under suspicion.

[Winston Legthigh]

How about unhomogenized milk? Them's tasty!

[Edie]

BTW -- I rescued the Neosporin from the garbage.

[embiggen]

[Sandoz]

Because both have been around so long that nobody remembers what it was like before these things existed, and thus they are taken for granted and fall under suspicion.

You are 100% completely right.

[Mrs. Peel]

Because both have been around so long that nobody remembers what it was like before these things existed, and thus they are taken for granted and fall under suspicion.

 

 

To be clear, I'm not frowning on pasteurization, I just didn't realize it had improved significantly enough in the last 5 years to make milk stay fresh 3 times as long as it did before. I'm thinking more along the lines of new chemical additives directly in the milk or fed to the cows producing it.

[deepseacatfish]

How about unhomogenized milk? Them's tasty!

Yes.

 

But I definitely want my milk to be pasteurized, my mom scared the fear of bacteria into me (she likes to worry bout things a lot).

[bjorn_skurj]

To be clear, I'm not frowning on pasteurization, I just didn't realize it had improved significantly enough in the last 5 years to make milk stay fresh 3 times as long as it did before. I'm thinking more along the lines of new chemical additives directly in the milk or fed to the cows producing it.

It is my understanding that ultra-pasteurization is achieved by very briefly heating the milk to a very high temperature, killing more bacteria than in regular pasteurization, hence the longer shelf life.