Conquer Club

Because we are all about to be plunged into financial armageddon, I thought I would save some pennies by having a rummage through my kitchen cupboard to use up some old stuff.

I was going through a tupperware box containing dry packet mixes. I found a tuna pasta bake mix. flipped it over and checked out the date.

Best before: June 01.

Now this thing was one of those packets that are tin foil on the inside, hermetically sealed and the ingredients was just a bunch of dry powder.

My girlfriend was freaking out that i was going to make dinner with something so out of date and i was trying to tell her that the best before date was stuck on food, to make idiots like her throw away perfectly good stuff and buy it all over again.

Whats the most out of date food you've ever eaten?

Does it have to be food we kept down?

Hmm... When I was younger and working at a camp I served milk 2 years old

pimpdave wrote:Does it have to be food we kept down?

I would say yes.

But it doesn't mean you can't tell us about some nasty illness and sickness caused by really gone off food....

I know I had something that was like 8 months expired..I think it was a school milk carton in elementary school.

One year old mayonnaise. Un-opened, but it was still bad. That one gave me the squirts for a while.

I am pretty picky, but also used to go to sea where such things become pretty important. Here is the thing, It really depends on how the expiration is worded (in the US anyway) and what the item is.

A "sell by" date is just that ... usually on dairy products and such. It is NOT a "use by date. The rule is that it should not be kept a week after opening, regardless of the date. Closer to that expiration date, though and you take chances, because who knows if stuff was handled properly. A "best if used by date" (mostly on dry goods) means that you might not get the flavor/color after that date, but it should not be harmful (though use common sense .. if its got mold.. toss it!!)

Milk -- no more than a week after opening OR the "sell by date" You CAN, in a pinch use it a bit later, but heat it to a low boil (this will change the flavor) and its best to use in baking, etc... not to drink.

Eggs -- can keep a month. BUT, stores are notorious for adding old eggs to new cartons. Also, if you leave it on the counter ... watch it. Check by cracking onto a plate. The clear part closest to the yolk should stick up a bit. If it spreads out all over the plate, either pitch it or use it just to bake (you know they are thoroughly cooked in cakes, etc.. ) (yolk color, though means nothing except what the chickens were fed) BUT, remember even a fully fresh egg can carry salmonella, so either cook or pastuerize your eggs before eating.

cheese -- any hard cheese, cut off the mold and you are good to go. Any soft cheese (cream cheese, etc.) .. don't keep more than a day or so after expiration & PITCH if there is anything like mold on it.

Most other dairy (yogurt, etc.) is OK a day or two past the "sell by" date usually (use common sense .. if it tastes, smells bad .. pitch it!).


DRY GOODS ... such as you described, usually have "use by" or "best by" dates rather than true expiration dates. Use common sense. (taste, smell, etc. .. any mold? bugs?) but generally the spices may lose potency, things won't tast quite as good as they should, but it won't actually hurt you.


Canned goods ... of course the old, watch for dents and such. But, if it is an "expiration" or "use by" date, you probably want to just pitch the item. If it says "best if used by" or something similar ...you can push a bit. It might loose some color, taste and nutrients, but as long as you use sense, won't be truly harmful.

To answer --- I have eaten cereal that was several years old, at my grandmother's once. It tasted "differant", so I checked the box ... after I had eaten it.

there is a line... sure its retarded to be throwing out your eggs because the stamp said nov 22nd but f*ck eating 8 year old tuna powder

Japs wrote:Hmm... When I was younger and working at a camp I served milk 2 years old

Frozen, canned or dry, I hope?

no it was liquid. or used to be.... should of told them it was yogurt

I found a bottle of ranch dressing that went bad in 2003. It tasted fine.

I'll have to get back on a for certain this many time units old. But some things I've eaten were several years past the "best before date" I usually scoff at that.

The only time I've had issue was when I just moved out on my own I bought some noodles made of mung beans. I still don't know what mung beans are. They were expired by less than a week. I gave them the smell test and figured, "good to go". I cooked them then chowed down everything was fine. Later I went to my friends house and his wife made tacos. They were great but somehow didn't get along with the expired noodles.

Soon I had to make a call to ralph on the big white phone.

My hot sauce says 01/2006. It's fine and I'm about 2/3rds through it.

We just had some chicken from my parents freezer best before 1998. Even my wife ate it so it was fine.

I thought this was going to be a thread about the best food to eat before a date.

Milk - give it a whiff and if it doesn't smell foul and is still liquid its good.

static_ice wrote:Milk - give it a whiff and if it doesn't smell foul and is still liquid its good.

Yeah, the girl I've been seeing lately got really grossed out recently when I poured some milk that was 2 days past the "sell by" date into her coffee. We then had an argument about whether "sell by" means the product must be sold by that date, or whether it means that at the stroke of midnight of the "sell by" day it suddenly turns into pure arsenic.

My position remains unchanged. Depending on the quality of the milk, and whether or not it was stored under fluorescent lights, it will keep up to a week past the sell by date. Rule of thumb should be 4 days though, and always give it the smell test.

Since I'm able to get my milk from a trustworthy dairy that never stores their milk under fluorescent lights, I've never smelled sour milk before 6 days past the "sell by" date from them. Supermarket milk is much different, and convenience store milk -- a lot of those places will change the dates, the degenerate scumbags.

I'm sure I've got a better "best before date" story than this though.

Would beer count? Cause I've got a wild fraternity prank story involving beer that would qualify.

Well - I'm still alive after eating something that was 7 years out of date. no weird side effects. Apart from I now think that God exists

a '98 bacardi breezer, earlier this year.

It was my day to cook on the boat and I'd done lasagna, we were shooting away the last string when we got slapped up the stern by a big wave just as I opened the oven door. Lasagna went face down on the deck, I lost it and through the lot over the side along with half the stuff in the galley. We were due in the next day so there was no grub left on the boat that wasn't frozen so I dug a few old Fray Bentos pies out of a locker, the best before date was 1986 (this was 1999), the tins were all rusty on the outside and they were covered in grease and filth but that soon burnt off and they tasted just fine. Skipper docked me £20 for the stuff I'd thrown over the side though.

If it passes the sniff test I'll eat it....I am more picky on what I feed my kids though

The thing that comes to mind was from last winter; was out working in the yard and having a few cold ones.....I was at that point where you just never remember where the hell you put your beer down...anyway, I found one half full (which mine had been), picked it up and it was nice and cold (duh...it was 25 F out)....took a big old swig and the shit was clumpy / slimy...felt like half blended slugs sleezing down my throat, and the taste was worse. I immediately puked all over the side of my freaking shed....damn that was hideous. That beer must have been sitting there all summer.....guess I should clean up my yard a little more.....

I'm thinking what might be worse than eating all the expired stuff is eating what ever is preventing it from composting back to dirt in less than a decade.

2dimes wrote:I'm thinking what might be worse than eating all the expired stuff is eating what ever is preventing it from composting back to dirt in less than a decade.

Not all stuff preventing food composting is bad. I've kept my pickled onions for years and they just get better, and fruit in syrup, not to mention sloe gin will all last a decade if they're airtight.

Bertros Bertros wrote:

2dimes wrote:I'm thinking what might be worse than eating all the expired stuff is eating what ever is preventing it from composting back to dirt in less than a decade.

Not all stuff preventing food composting is bad. I've kept my pickled onions for years and they just get better, and fruit in syrup, not to mention sloe gin will all last a decade if they're airtight.

True, I'm reffering to the frozen burritos I'm addicted to.

2dimes wrote:

Bertros Bertros wrote:

2dimes wrote:I'm thinking what might be worse than eating all the expired stuff is eating what ever is preventing it from composting back to dirt in less than a decade.

Not all stuff preventing food composting is bad. I've kept my pickled onions for years and they just get better, and fruit in syrup, not to mention sloe gin will all last a decade if they're airtight.

True, I'm reffering to the frozen burritos I'm addicted to.

Ah, I don't eat little donkeys myself so can't say I've experienced that problem. Are they the glued variety or do they fall open, makes a lot of difference you know.

They blow up in the microwave.