#214: the italian spices in my cupboard expired in 2009

[specter_rot]

Would you eat food past its expiration date if it looked and smelled fine?

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<b><user name="questionoftheday"> asks:</b> Would you eat food past its expiration date if it looked and smelled fine?<br><br><b>My answer:</b>

Comments

old food

[oldtoadwoman]

Near the date? Absolutely. The "sell by / best by" dates are pretty arbitrary and have nothing to do with food safety and are more about when to pull things from shelves.

However, I can tell you from experience those spices that expired in 2009 are probably, at best, bland and worthless and, at worst, stale and slightly funky. In fact, I can now tell you from experience that, yes, eggs will go bad in the fridge eventually if you forget them for long enough and, yes, flour can actually go stale and make nasty-tasting baked goods. (I have a long history of forgetting things in the back of the fridge/cupboard. I've never made myself sick from eating old food, but I've definitely ruined a few meals.)