All I'm saying is that it says Best by that date, not that you can't eat it after . . .

[xiphias]

Look. Lots of foods really have indefinite shelf-lives. Plenty of stuff is good forever, as long as it doesn't get wet, and bugs don't get into it.

Things in cans, for instance. If they were canned properly, they're good for CENTURIES. Pasta -- dried pasta doesn't age: it was developed to be a long-lasting food source. As was flour. People found honey that was buried with Pharaohs that was perfectly good.

So, I don't see what's so weird about the box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese that said "Best by December '03." Or maybe '02; I didn't look that carefully. So the orange color had faded to a dingy orange-ish brown. It was still perfectly wholesome. And we've got three more boxes of the stuff.

I'm not sure about the Annie's Shells and Cheddar of the same vintage, though -- that stuff is natural and organic and stuff, and therefore might have actual, y'know, ingredients in it.

Comments

[madcaptenor.livejournal.com]

The macaroni part is probably safe. But the cheese?

[noveldevice.livejournal.com]

Well, whey powder, yellow #5, corn starch, turmeric, xanthan gum...

I would imagine that the aging of the turmeric explains the weird hue of the "cheeze" sauce, but for the most part as long as that stuff is kept dry I doubt it'll go bad.

[scienceprincess.livejournal.com]

LOL! I probably shouldn't find that as funny as I do.

[jehanna.livejournal.com]

The only thing that has any possibility of going off is the cheese-whey-whateveritis in the sauce, and hopefully there's enough chemical nast in there to preserve it indefinitely.

FSVO "hopefully". :P Ew.

[cellio]

Yeah, that stuff should last forever. The "cheese" pack might degrade in flavor, but it should be safe.

[oneironaut.livejournal.com]

As was flour.

You have to be careful with whole grain flour because bran tends to go rancid and ruin your dumplings (not that I'm bitter), but yes. Eat your disgusting ancient food product with my blessing. I wouldn't be too concerned about the Annie's stuff either -- as you say, pasta is forever, and if it's the kind that comes with the foil-plastic packet of viscous cheese substance, that thing is basically a can and has been pasteurized to within an inch of its life.

[cbpotts.livejournal.com]

While pasta does stay good almost forever, the same is REALLY NOT TRUE for some kinds of flour. I don't know why, but some types of flour 'turn' after being in storage: rye flour is particularly problematic for this. You can taste it in finished baked goods, and you can smell that something's wrong when you 'discover' a bag of rye flour long thought lost and go to use it.

Mind you, it is entirely possible that we had that bag of flour for MANY YEARS past the expiration date. Our food consumption patterns are strange.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Well, rye flour is well-known to be Different. After all, it can turn into LSD.

[jehanna.livejournal.com]

It depends on the proteins and fats in the flour...flours that have more of them are more inclined to go off.

A lot of flours are best stored well-sealed in the fridge in smallish amounts because of this, or even frozen, and keep quite nicely under those conditions (as long as you're keeping them well-wrapped from air & moisture).

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I tried that with a 4-year-old pack of ramen. Problem was, the little flavor packet had lost ALL flavor. It was like eating glue strings.I tossed it. Hope your results are better.

[geekosaur]

I toss the packet regardless. It's mostly salt / MSG anyway.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I always have my own salt and MSG on hand, so, yeah, I can just use those. (Yes, I DO have MSG in my kitchen.)

[felis-sidus.livejournal.com]

Some links you may find interesting:

ABC story on surplus groceries

NY Food Bank brouchure with definitions of food dating terms

USDA article on food dating labels

I understand there are some grocery stores where everything in the store is older than the date on the label, and the prices are quite low. Anyone know of any around here? The only surplus store I know is a Pepperidge Farm surplus store on Brighton Street in Cambridge. Their cookies may be a bit stale, but I've never known any to be outright spoiled.