Expire Date

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Do everything really expire when they tell you? I had soymilk, it was expired, it was still good.

It's not like a cut-off point, immediately after which everything rots or tastes disgusting.

I read it more as a manufacturer's suggestion where, in their opinion, it's the time when the product has lost sufficient taste/firmness/freshness as to consider it "not as good as it should be".
This rarely means it's actually unsuitable for consumption, even less so dangerous to consume.

Trust your eyes, nose and taste - and if in doubt, don't eat it.

I don't trust my nose.

My mum was always paranoid and wouldn't eat any meat or dairy products if they were even just a day after the use by date. She said she didn't trust it and that it's better to be safe than sorry. So whenever I see food in the fridge that is almost past it's use by date I'll say "only X more hours/minutes until this becomes poison", even though I know that it doesn't suddenly just turn poisonous the very instant the use by date runs out.

But as an emetophobe we never, ever take any chances.

The other day I poured myself a glass of milk that was well in date, but when I sipped it I got a funny taste in my mouth and I got paranoid. It wasn't sour or anything, it was actually rather tasteless but left an odd aftertaste after I'd swallowed each sip. I hate wasting food or drink but I still ended up tipping it down the sink. Just in case.

A nephew's partner is like this and treats the "use by" date as a precise timer - the amount of food waste generated is quite shocking.

Probably a good move.

From what I've heard, expiration dates are put in to food products so that those who prepare/sell them can be free of responsibility at some point in case someone eats something too old and gets ill. Assuming this is true, lots of products are actually perfectly usable even after the date. My rule is: if it doesn't look bad, smell it. If it doesn't smell bad, taste it. If the taste is good, all's good. Can be used. Might not apply to everything, but most products.

Of course, with dairy products and meat, it's wise to be far more careful than with pasta or canned goods. Then again, even with those you can somewhat ignore the expiration date if the food has been in the freezer. Some say meat will be fine even after half a year past the expiration date if stored properly, but some others that three months is the limit, so who knows. Might be wiser to aim for the three months and under just in case.

Similiar Issues , I recognise these situations. Especially about not trusting my nose ! .....

Saturday ate spinach three months expired.

Today zero symptoms thus far

This is pretty short and to the point and should help,

https://extension.umn.edu/preserving-an ... -they-mean
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Best before
Terms like "best before" and "better if used by/before" are freshness dates. It tells you how long the product will be at its best flavor and quality. Baked goods, cereals, snacks, frozen entrees and some canned food will have freshness dating. The food is safe to eat after this date. Though, that three-year-old candy bar might taste stale, have an odd flavor or be chewier than normal.

Use by
Perishable food like meat, yogurt and eggs often have a "use by" date. If properly stored, you have a one-week grace period to use up the product. Use-by dates on yeast or refrigerated dough indicate how long the product will retain its rising power. Discard infant formula past its "use by" date as the nutritional value may be compromised.

Sell by
"Sell by" dates on poultry, fish, meat, bread and dairy products tell the store how long to display the product for sale. Although the store should pull a product after the "sell by" date has passed, it is legal to sell the food after this date. It is also legal for the retailer to change a date on wholesome fresh meat that has been cut up and wrapped in the store's meat department. Most food is safe to eat for a week after the "sell by" date. Fresh meat, fish and poultry should be cooked within a day or two of home refrigeration or placed in the freezer for longer storage. Once frozen, it doesn’t matter if the date expires because foods kept frozen are safe indefinitely.

Shelf life of eggs
What about the shelf life of eggs? The "sell by" or "expiration date" on the carton is the last day the store may sell the eggs as fresh. On grade AA eggs, this date can’t be more than 30 days from the date the eggs were packed in the carton. They are still safe in your refrigerator for 3 to 5 weeks at 40 degrees F or colder.

Call the University of Minnesota AnswerLine, 1-800-854-1678, with your food safety questions.
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very handy info, in the above post, did not understand the differences of "best if used by date"
or "best if sold by dates" the entire lot of that stuff can get confusing to me often. Am still scared of beef even if frozen after a few weeks , either way .. Kinda wonder if its my nose, but some meats seem to smell like stinky feet, i think if starting to have turned,or gotten too old . Think that may include thawed out beef, and supposedly
"not frozen " beef too. But my nose is eometimes just not able to keep up with my cooking skills ,I fear , So this maybe a wasteful saying but , i think , " If in doubt,Throw it out" . Has been keeping me safe so far , Only food poisoning issues I ever had were both times from Restaurants.

Old Computer programmers saying from the early days of big mainframe computers was " Garbage in, Garbage out"
Think that goes for quality of foods too, and effects on the human body.

I hate wasting food, so unless the scenario sounds like the intro to a ChubbyEmu video I take my chances.

"They're just like mushrooms", he thought to himself, not letting the fungus concern him. "Omnomnom, extra mushrooms" was the last thing he remembered thinking before regaining consciousness in the emergency room, where we are now.

I have a good sense of smell so go by it.
Soured milk can still be used for baking.
My culture hates food waste.

I work in a grocery store and those dates are a massive headache. The short answer is that they're usually not expiration dates, they're an indication for the store as to when to ensure that the product is off the shelf. So, each department will mark products down based on that date, and generally the products are supposed to be pulled on that date. The dates are usually pretty conservative so you really don't need to toss the product after that date as it's intended that it be sold by that date. As long as the food smells and looks fine, it's probably fine to eat. If you're dealing with somebody that has a compromised immune system, you might just adhere to the date anyway, but it's probably not much of an issue even there.

If it's a best if used by date, that's even worse as it literally is the manufacturer's indication of when the best taste and consumption experience is, the actual point where it becomes unsafe is quite a bit beyond that.

Honestly, smell and appearance are important things to consider. It may have expired in a practical sense, even if the date is well in the future due to failures in storage or packaging. The appearance of mold tells you basically nothing if you can't identify the type of mold, other than the fact that it's in danger of being spoiled and may already be spoiled.

Food poisoning can be anything from a little upsetness of the stomach to full on organ failure. It is definitely best to err on the side of caution, but in most cases, as long as it looks, smells and tastes fine, it's probably not going to be much of a problem.

I had to throw food away & grape juice. The food were fruit, my oranges turned green & white, I can forget stuff in the refrigerator if it hiding behind other stuff. My grape juice, stuff were floating in it, molds & green, GROSS!

My son is like that. He doesn't even like to have things a few days BEFORE the day. It's an OCD thing for him, but it frustrates me to no end. *She says while hiding the bread tags*

My dating plans expire when I retire.

That's my relationship potential expiration date.