Hi all. We were wondering if anyone had good advice about food exp. dates. How important are they? This is a concern to most preppers, I would imagine, since most probably have food that will “go bad” in weeks or months. When is it okay to disregard these dates and when is it not? After prepping for so long it really seems unfair that the food may not keep for as long as we need it to.
my rule of thumb is store bought canned goods are good till they rust or bulge.
Check the forum, there are several threads on this topic, along with links to manufacturers expiration dates. Generally, canned goods will last much longer than the date, dry packaged goods less so. Often it isn’t that it “bad” but, say breakfast cereal just doesn’t taste good beyond a few months past date. Products with dairy should be followed more closely. Manufacturers build in a great deal of cushion in their dates in order to avoid complaints or lawsuits. Often “best by” dates are just that - the product is “best by”, not that “it will make you sick as a dog” date.
Carrey in VA – at 19:34 My method matches yours, and I have some C-Rats (pre-MRE “food” provided to our troops compliments of Uncle Sam) dated “53″, same year that I was born. Still looks OK, though I am NOT planning on using them, kept for the memories of days past (LONG past.)
Strider - I ate some of those at boot camp back in ‘71 at PI that were dated “49″, the year I was born and they were just fine after 22 years in cans. I still have my first P38 on my old dog tags from those C Rats.
Firsthand experience: Bisquick is definitely NOT good past its experiation date. We used some inadvertently, and it was definitely bad. Horrible taste. No one got sick, but I think that’s because it was just barely outside the expiration date. I have heard and read that mixes such as Bisquick and Jiffy can actually result in fatal poisoning if used past the expiration. I have a bunch of boxes of Bisquick that are soon expiring and am donating it to a soup kitchen. They’ll go through it in no time and well within the expiration date.
edna mode, I beleive what you are thinking of is this story. http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/pancake.asp
What about the cardboard containers that hold broth, soy milk, etc. How long after best by date are they safe?
Rats…
I just bought 2 GIANT boxes of Bisquik, more than I would use in 4 years of regular living, because of all the yummy things described on the Bisquik thread.
no name, don’t worry too much.
I’d package it into smaller portions and keep it. I’d just vacuum seal it in bags or jars. But if your really worried you could buy some oxygen absorbers, and moisture absorbers in the jars.
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