Expired Soup. Like, 4+ years past use-by date

Unless you have a full course of antibiotics in the fridge, you’re better off going to get a full prescription than taking just a few doses.

NOTE: I am not a doctor, although I have played one in the backyard.

My MIL would leave items from the fridge out for, I am assuming days (!), return it to the fridge and unbeknownst to us, she’d put it in something she whipped up for a family gathering. It took us all awhile to do the detective work when everyone kept getting sick. We all have become rather compulsive about returning items to the fridge lickety-split after taking out just what we needed. Same with the two year old store bought salad dressings she had in there. Maybe she thought the housekeeper would put it away (when she visited once a week).

Wow. Sorry to hear about that. My grandparents never refrigerated mustard or catsup[1], or maple syrup (which Grandad made himself), but that’s about it for my family and “not refrigerating”. OTOH, I don’t think anything will grow in mustard and catsup’s also highly resistant to bacterial growth (although you might get some mold - which can also happen with maple syrup at RT).

[1] These sat out on the kitchen table. For 40 years they ran a mom/pop grocery and their routine was for one to come home at 11:30 for lunch, the other at 12:30. Every day (as near as I can tell) for that 40 years, lunch was bologna on expired buns from the store with that mustard and catsup, and some chips (also store expires).

I found this surprising -

Survey of 2000 Brits found [corrections, based on the Curry’s link, NewFood seems to have reversed the survey numbers] over half 60% keep catsup in the cupboard and more surprisingly to me, over 60% some 40% keep mayonnaise in the cupboard instead of the fridge. Apparently they didn’t ask about mustard (or the food website didn’t report on it).

Here’s the original reporting on the survey from Curry’s themselves.

https://techtalk.currys.co.uk/the-nations-greatest-food-fights/


As for:

I was just over there fixing her alarm system and while I didn’t survey the pantry, I grabbed a “likely suspect” item at random - a Velveeta Shells-n-Cheese box.

Its use by date was just over 8 years ago at late Jan 2015.

Here’s a little trick for eggs I learned long ago that always works,…

Fill a bowl with 6 inches of cold water and place your egg in it. If it lies flat, it’s fresh… if it stands up on one end, it’s still good… if it floats it is time to toss.

My allergist told me to toss medicated prescription creams and ointments after the expiration date. Things like Advil are fine, according to her.

I’m glad you mentioned this because I should have limited my comments above to pill- and capsule-form meds.

Previously opened high liquid content meds should likely be tossed at expiration as you were advised. I believe it’s less about loss of medicine efficacy, though, and more about the ability of bacteria to eventually grow, because the preservatives (perborates or whatever) can also break down over time. And in use, the tips of the dispenser are generally touched over and over, providing a lot of opportunity for contamination.

For the same reason, I definitely would not use any kind of eye drop (or even eye-care/contact lens cleaning regimen) after expiration.

I want to be able to find this later. Here’s a thread that was created a few months ago, and hopefully this and similar threads can be linked.

Good combination. Thanks!

I was just poking around inside my fridge freezer and found a nicely labeled ziplock full of chipotles en adobo … dated December 2015. It was probably ok but I forced myself to toss it out.

I need this for Bobby Flay’s Sweet Potato Dish:

I love the recipe, always double it to use a 9 X 13 Pyrex dish but it’s better to cut back on the cream. For a double recipe this is what I use:

3 cups heavy cream (original recipe had 4 cups .. 3 cups is best)

1 – 2 heaping Tablespoons chipotle pepper puree (from canned chipotle in adobo) (You put cream and chipotle in a blender or mini chopper but don’t overblend or it will become like butter!)

6 medium sweet potatoes, (buy the really red ones) peeled and thinly sliced 1/8-inch thick (3.5 – 4 lbs) (If you use a mandolin, be sure to wear a cut-resistant glove!)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Anyway, in the future, I guess I should just use what I need and toss out the rest of the can!

From the freezer, I probably would have used them if they looked visually ok.

Hi, I know I’m resurrecting an old thread, but I recently (finally!) got done going through my deceased MIL’s old stuff, and among the cans were some six 2020-2023 diced tomatoes or tomato sauce cans.

Why is it specifically that you would avoid older tomato products? Is it because the acids in tomatoes maybe attack/break down the poly lining inside cans?

FWIW, if I can find the thread about “oldest canned goods”, she had some canned pitted black olives having a January 2015 best by date that I’ll post there. I’m eager to try them.