Memes

What if neither of you believe in expiration dates but one of you think it turned and the other doesn't?

I recognize that "best before" means exactly what it says

Let me put it this way: They print expiration dates on SALT.
Now, it's pretty convenient that stores here in Denmark sell products cheaper just before they "expire" because certain products actually get better with time like cheese.
Safe to say I'm the second type hehe..

Expiration dates are literally made up, very infrequently will any actual testing be done to see the exact time it takes for a food to decay enough to be either unenjoyable, unpalatable or inedible.

They're usually 1 week from mfgr for unpreserved foods, 2 weeks to a month for soft foods like American sandwich bread, 3 months to a year for dry goods (depending on what it is) and up to several years for canned goods.

My salt has an expiration date. Salt is a rock, it is millions of years old (not sea salt, mined salt). It does not expire.

There are different types of dates in the US. Few things have expiration dates, which means it can be dangerous (or, for medication, ineffective) after that date. Most things have "best before" dates, which means the company has tested the product that far from its production and found it still met the quality standard.

The problem is that the FDA requires that testing and that every product have such a date. People have mentioned salt, which is inert, having a date, and that's probably the most ridiculous example, but there are lots of things that have super long shelf lives beyond the best buy dates. Honey, soy sauce, bottled water, and vinegar being examples that come to mind.

Expiration dates are a myth

My wife just threw out a ~12 hour old fried rice we doggy bagged last night that I was planning on lunching on because we "touched it with our spoons". Sigh.

Oh they're real. They're just arbitrary most of the time.

Expiration dates have a lot of leeway.

Expiration dates are useful, but they are not usually a hard end point to a food's safety or edibility.

I recognize that "best by" dates are mostly bullshit, but I'm also a firm believer in "why risk it?" Especially for food where you can't tell if it's gone bad, like canned goods. I don't fuck around with botulism.

I’m pretty strict about it, a week is a fucking week and we need to maximize leftover prioritization to clear everything out within that timeframe. Especially if we’re using pricy ingredients.

My ex? Had a custom cake made for her birthday, from a pastry chef friend of hers, one who’d been on TV and worked in a nice restaurant in a major city. Not Michelin Star rated, but newly successful on some level. Anyway, she would take the entire remaining slice out and nibble on it… nightly. Then put it back after sitting and watching tv for half an hour or so. By the end of that week she’d finished it, and then promptly learned the importance of letting food sit at room temperature for too long, especially something not baked full of preservatives and using both dairy and egg products.

We didn’t make it to a second incident, but she confirmed that she’d cut a portion off and eat that instead of bringing the entire thing out nightly.

In Japan they have two types of dates, which map to "Use by" and "Best before", but they don't use them interchangeably or some vague middle-of-the-road term like "expiry date". One is operative, the other is a recommendation.

消費期限 (shouhi-kigen) literally means "consumption time limit" and 賞味期限 (shoumi-kigen) literally means "guarantee of taste time limit".

Many years ago (I was there) expiration dates were useful and only on products that would actually expire--mostly just milk, cheese, and meat.

Then, I think it was Budweiser came up with the "born on date" marketing campaign for beer. Since then, on anything that doesn't actually expire, like beer, it's been used to prompt people to throw away perfectly good food, so they'll hopefully buy more "fresh" food.

It's been going on for so many years, we now have at least two generations who have been duped into believing them.

i'm the person that understands the conflict of interest between companies and the creation of their own expiration dates.

Best By dates are not expiration dates, expiration dates are estimates.

That said, my wife has no concept of expiration until something is obviously covered in mold, and says some wild stuff. "Oh that's got lemon juice in it, it doesn't expire" like babe, lemon juice isn't some timeless magic spell.

Joke's on you - I'm not in a relationship.

My wife is servsafe certified and I have a terrible sense of smell. Guess which one I am?

They are estimations. I do give them weight in the to eat or not to eat decision, but I also use my own senses.

Expiration date believers are my sworn enemies.

When I was 14, I hated cheerios and had a whole pack bit noone in my family liked em.

Noticed it expired the same date as me and my brothers birthday and we excitedly waited and threw it out on our birthday.

Still regret it to this day.