Did you know that a store can sell food past the expiration date?

I was reading on the FDA's website (Food and Drug Administration) that a store CAN sell food past the expiration date, except infant formula and some baby food.

The FDA does not require food manufacturers to place "expired by", "use by" or "best before" dates on food products, this information is entirely at the discretion of the manufacturer.

A principle of U.S. food law is that foods in U.S. commerce must be wholesome and fit for consumption. A product that is dangerous to consumers would be subject to potential action by FDA to remove it from commerce regardless of any date printed on a label.

I didn't know the manufacturers didn't have to put expiration dates on their products! That's crazy to me!

If putting the dates on the food is not required, why does everyone do it?

Ziggy's last paragraph:
A principle of U.S. food law is that foods in U.S. commerce must be wholesome and fit for consumption. A product that is dangerous to consumers would be subject to potential action by FDA to remove it from commerce regardless of any date printed on a label.

If a manufacturer knows that their product will last to a certain date without spoilage, this means they can put a date on the packaging and know their product will be fine by the expiration. This shifts the responsibility from themselves to the retailer. As long as the product is still okay by the expiration date, the responsibilty is now with the seller as he has been told when the food is good until.

I'll happily eat something that's gone past a 'best before' date, but I wouldn't risk doing so with something that had gone past a 'use by' date. I had a tin of soup once (many years ago) that was four or five years out of date. It was fine, by the way - tinned food seems to last almost indefinitely, as long as the tin is uncompromised. That's me though, you may not feel the same way, and it's definitely a case of 'at your own risk'!

Sorry I didn't put more details about this topic when I first posted it. Here's a little more info about it...

If a date is stamped on a product's package, it is to help the store determine how long to display the product for sale. But... it can also help you to know the time limit to purchase or use the product at its best quality. It is not a safety date for you to go by.

So, after that date passes, while the food may not be of best quality, the product should still be safe if you handle it properly by keeping it in a refrigerator at 40 degrees or below for the recommended storage times (see below), which varies on different products.

If I were to ever buy a product I wasn't sure about lasting much longer after I bought it from the store, when I got home I would either cook it for dinner that night, or freeze it. Once a perishable product is frozen, it doesn't matter if the date expires because foods kept frozen continuously are safe indefinitely. (well, not years though, because it will get freezer burnt)

Open dating (use of a calendar date as opposed to a code) is found primarily on perishable foods such as meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products.

"Closed" or "coded" dating might appear on shelf-stable products such as cans and boxes of food.

Storage of Fresh or Uncooked Products
Product and Storage Times After Purchase

Poultry - 1 or 2 days
Beef, Veal, Pork and Lamb - 3 to 5 days
Ground Meat and Ground Poultry - 1 or 2 days
Fresh Variety Meats (Liver, Tongue, Brain, Kidneys, Heart, Chitterlings) - 1 or 2 days
Cured Ham, Cook-Before-Eating - 5 to 7 days
Sausage from Pork, Beef or Turkey, Uncooked - 1 or 2 days
Eggs - 3 to 5 weeks

Another thing the article said I was reading...

Foods can develop an off odor, flavor or appearance due to spoilage bacteria. If a food has developed such characteristics, you should not use it.

If foods are mishandled, foodborne bacteria can grow and cause foodborne illness - before or after the date on the package. For example, if hot dogs are taken to a picnic and left out several hours, they wouldn't be safe if used thereafter, even if the date hasn't expired.

Here in the UK, if a product has a best before date, it simply means it cannot be guaranteed to be at its very best after that date - usually, as long as things aren't too far past it, they're fine.

If it has a 'use by' date. Then you're playing with fire by consuming it. Not a good idea at all...

I got a single serving orange juice from a gas station a few years ago and guzzled it without thinking twice. By the time I guzzled three-quarters of it I thought I was going to puke. It was beyond bitter and sour, it just tasted horrible. I looked at the expiration date afterwards, and it had been expired for quite some time. (I don't remember exactly how long) Since most of it was already gone I didn't bother trying to exchange it for another one because I didn't want to be treated like a thief who was trying to get a free orange juice.

I would have still gone back and returned the juice. I've returned meat that was bought at the grocery store that was not red anymore once I opened up the package... It had begun to turn brown in color and I didn't want to even attempt to eat that. The store actually didn't let us get our money back, but instead we got to choose another meat that wasn't turning brown.

Had I not guzzled most of it before I realized it was funky I probably would have brought it back in to get a new one.

I found this out the hard way too... Bad yogurt... I didn't realize it was a month past the due date until after I bought it... grrrrr.... I didn't want to take the chance... it was dairy and I question yogurt anyways due to the consistency... so I chucked it and pay attention more now!

What's the worst some bad yogurt could do to you ?

I'm thinking a day of diarrhea. I'm wondering if it could actually leave someone in severe abdominal pain or something though.

I'm thinking bad yogurt isn't going to taste very good. It contains milk doesn't it? And when milk goes bad, the taste is horrific!

I know many of the grocery stores in my town I have sold expired food like chips, candy, sodas, canned foods, and sometime meats. In some cases if the price is too good to be true then check the expiration date.