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The Water Cooler
General Discussion
How long past the "best by date" is acceptable?
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<blockquote data-quote="BillM" data-source="post: 4118704" data-attributes="member: 45785"><p>That depends a lot on what it is. I've seen a meme about someone's 250million YO salt being past it's best by date. Unless the container has been sitting open in a dirty environment for years, it's probably good for another 250million years. I have personally dumped out some of SWMBO's spaghetti sauce that had been left in the fridge too long that still smelled very good, but had obvious mold all through it. IOW, smell is not a reliable gauge. About the only reliable gauge I've been able to find: If the product package is puffy now, and wasn't when you bought it, it's bad. And worse still, if the product bag looks like it was vacuum sealed, and it wasn't originally, it's botulism waiting to happen! DO NOT OPEN IT! </p><p></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botulism" target="_blank">Botulism - Wikipedia</a> good general info.</p><p></p><p><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/botulism/index.html" target="_blank">Botulism | Botulism | CDC</a> very good specific info, including for home canners.</p><p></p><p>[URL unfurl="true"]https://news.extension.uconn.edu/2019/10/30/expiration-use-by-and-sell-by-dates-what-do-they-really-mean/[/URL]</p><p></p><p>If stuff has been kept in optimal conditions, ie very nearly but not quite freezing for liquids, and below freezing for solids, it extends their shelf life. A temperature of -5F was the standard for freezers back when my dad and I were doing appliance repair back in the early 70's. Later, in the late 70's and early 80's, the photo labs I worked in kept our film and batteries in a refrigerator or freezer to extend their shelf life. The faster black and white films, like Kodak's Tri-X 400ASA film had notably finer grain in the enlargements if they'd been stored cold. Lower temperatures slow down chemical reactions in batteries, film, and foods. Also biological activity. There are limits, though. Stuff with lots of fat in it doesn't last as long as low-fat foods. </p><p></p><p>[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.foodsafety.gov/food-safety-charts/cold-food-storage-charts[/URL]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BillM, post: 4118704, member: 45785"] That depends a lot on what it is. I've seen a meme about someone's 250million YO salt being past it's best by date. Unless the container has been sitting open in a dirty environment for years, it's probably good for another 250million years. I have personally dumped out some of SWMBO's spaghetti sauce that had been left in the fridge too long that still smelled very good, but had obvious mold all through it. IOW, smell is not a reliable gauge. About the only reliable gauge I've been able to find: If the product package is puffy now, and wasn't when you bought it, it's bad. And worse still, if the product bag looks like it was vacuum sealed, and it wasn't originally, it's botulism waiting to happen! DO NOT OPEN IT! [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botulism"]Botulism - Wikipedia[/URL] good general info. [URL="https://www.cdc.gov/botulism/index.html"]Botulism | Botulism | CDC[/URL] very good specific info, including for home canners. [URL unfurl="true"]https://news.extension.uconn.edu/2019/10/30/expiration-use-by-and-sell-by-dates-what-do-they-really-mean/[/URL] If stuff has been kept in optimal conditions, ie very nearly but not quite freezing for liquids, and below freezing for solids, it extends their shelf life. A temperature of -5F was the standard for freezers back when my dad and I were doing appliance repair back in the early 70's. Later, in the late 70's and early 80's, the photo labs I worked in kept our film and batteries in a refrigerator or freezer to extend their shelf life. The faster black and white films, like Kodak's Tri-X 400ASA film had notably finer grain in the enlargements if they'd been stored cold. Lower temperatures slow down chemical reactions in batteries, film, and foods. Also biological activity. There are limits, though. Stuff with lots of fat in it doesn't last as long as low-fat foods. [URL unfurl="true"]https://www.foodsafety.gov/food-safety-charts/cold-food-storage-charts[/URL] [/QUOTE]
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