Expiry Dates...what's the deal?

[Dottore]

Among the many treasures recently found while cleaning out my parents former flat is an enormous stash of tinned fish. Hundreds and hundreds of tins of exotic tuna, salmon, herring, sardines, mackeral, scallops and oysters. Smoked. Unsmoked. He had it all.

For lunch my father often had some tinned fish and black bread and a shot of ice vodka—and I guess he was stashing all his favourites away for post-apocalyptic times.

I like to think he was channeling Karla when he ate these things.

Some of these tins have no expiry dates. Others have "best before" dates that range from 2008 to 2011.

I've always thought if it was tinned it would keep virtually for ever. Like all that caviar they lifted from the wreck of the Titanic.

So what's the deal? Should I toss all this stuff? Should the "best by" dates be taken seriously? What would you feel comfortable consuming?

(I wouldn't even ask this question, but some of these tins look seriously interesting and come from distant lands. One of the old boys hobbies in later life was visiting specialty food shops wherever he went to forage for tinned fish.)

[M.D. Holloway]

Don't take offense but he didn't die of food, mercury or lead poisoning did he?

[porsche4life]

I would think as long as the tin looks to be in good condition, hasn't been exposed to temperature extremes, and the food doesn't look/smell bad(how do you tell with fish?) you would be fine a little ways past the date.


I mean, worst case scenario, you catch botulism....

[krystar]

"best by" labels are meant from the mfgr as "product still passes our quality standards by"

as in. saltines will go stale after a year...but that doesn't mean they're not edible.

[Dottore]

Originally Posted by LubeMaster77

Don't take offense but he didn't die of food, mercury or lead poisoning did he?

No, no. Nothing of the sort.

[craigster59]

I'd eat it. Hell, in the Army we had C-rations that were 10-15 years old.

[gtc]

Go ahead and try them if they only say "best before." It's the "use by" or expiration dates that are more important.
If they don't taste too good, you can always feed them to the cat.

You could donate them to a food bank also.

[Joe Bob]

I my ex once tossed out a bottle of Tums because the expired date was past. Tums is a rock.

Stoopid twit.

Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the formula CaCO3. It is a common substance found in rocks in all parts of the world, and is the main component of shells of marine organisms, snails, coal balls, pearls, and eggshells. Calcium carbonate is the active ingredient in agricultural lime, and is usually the principal cause of hard water. It is commonly used medicinally as a calcium supplement or as an antacid, but excessive consumption can be hazardous.

[jcc911]

No opinion on the food, but I work in the pharma industry and you should respect the expiry dates on pharmaceuticals. Products are monitored for years under stability studies in order to determine those dates, so they are supported with sound data showing they are safe and effective to that point. After that point the product will either simply be less effective or can degrade and generate impurities that can be harmful.

[porsche4life]

^^^ That is highly dependent on the product....

[jcc911]

True, OTCs like Tums are quite stabile, nasal sprays that contain flunisolide are not.

[Hugh R]

Originally Posted by craigster59

I'd eat it. Hell, in the Army we had C-rations that were 10-15 years old.

Ditto, in 1972 in the mess hall on our 30 day kitchen duty, we were opening up C-rats from the Korean War and dumping them into huge bowls to serve as lunch.

[944Larry]

I think they would be fine as long as the top of the can is not puffed out. That would indicate something bad growing inside.

[Dottore]

Originally Posted by gtc

You could donate them to a food bank also.

Yes, but I really don't want to donate toxic food....

[Reg]

listen for a bit of air when you puncture the tin.

[syncroid]

I would look at the condition of the tins, how they were stored, then procede. I know you are a foodie. (me too) I wouldn't be afraid to dive in if the tins looked okay. Lucky dog!

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by gtc

You could donate them to a food bank also.

NO NO NO NO!

I've volunteered before with collections/sorting, and anything out of date gets thrown in a pile, never gets given out. I do not understand why people think its cool to give away out of date food, or stuff that's been sitting around in baggies that they never used, etc.

If its out of date, eat it yourself and buy some new stuff for the food bank if you think the old stuff is actually good.

[livi]

Originally Posted by Dottore

For lunch my father often had some tinned fish and black bread and a shot of ice vodka

That is an excellent lunch both from a taste and nutritious as well as relative calorie amount point of view. Your father knew what he was doing alright.

[dennis in se pa]

Anyone who has ever had food poisoning will tell you to discard this.

[jhynesrockmtn]

I spent my senior year in college working the early morning shift at the loading dock for the student union building. We lived off of the expired food in the walk in. Smell it, taste it, eat a small bit at a time. I've heard the expire dates for foods are very, very conservative.