Expiration Dates (my rant)
When I came awake in 2008, I went nuts in my house, dumped most everything that will not "serve me in some way" in a survival situation. I am a single person and I spent 600 a month on groceries for months. I have slowed down, but most of my canned goods, all of the boxed goods, pasta, are expired now.
I eat expired food every day. I'm alive! I don't taste any difference, and I won't be looking at expiration dates when I am starving.
My Step-Mom made my Dad get rid of all his old canned goods in his "Pantry" the ones that were never rotated, she made him toss everything older than 10 years. He "tossed them" to my house. Over 50 cans, maybe 75. I ate them and so did my family. As long as the can is not rusted the food inside is okay. Old boxed goods might not taste as good, but they're not going to turn to poison one day. Use good sense, if it don't smell right, don't eat it. I take the refrigerated items a bit more serious, but I still trust my sniffer more than some silly date on a container.
Plus, I am old enough to remember when "expiration dates" were invented, I assume, to sell more food (below it says to
protect the mfgr, liability, yadayada). We know what my family thought of them. Now that does not mean we are stupid. We know what to be careful of.
I found a web site that talked about this - I'll look for it.
Have you seen "The Road?" There's a scene where the father and son find an underground "shelter" with canned goods etc. The last thing they cared about was expiration dates.
I shudder at the thought.
Found a similar article:
Quote:
The Truth About Expiration Dates
By Kellene Bishop
What you don’t know about expiration dates may cost you a bundle. Even more importantly, it may cost you your survival. Millions of pounds of food are thrown away all throughout America every year simply because the expiration date says that the food has gone bad. Well, you need to know about the truth on expiration dates, because the prevalent thought is costing you lots of money. Expiration dates exist for one reason, and one reason only, and that’s to protect the legal backsides of the manufacturers. They rarely have anything to do with the quality or taste of the food. Just because an expiration date has come and gone does NOT mean that your food has suddenly turned poisonous, ineffective, rancid, tasteless, or lacking in nutrition. It only means that their insurance or legal liability extends to the date printed on the package.
Examples: I’ve had spices in my cabinet for 5 years and they STILL season my food sufficiently. I’ve used cake mixes over a year past their expiration date and so long as I’m using fresh eggs, oil, etc., the mixes have never let me down.
Taking a few step simple steps towards extending the life of your food storage will help you significantly.
Keep in mind that in ALL instances, storing your food items in a cool, dry place is the optimal condition.
Did you know that sugar is a preservative? Think about it. How many fruits do you buy that come packaged in a syrup? That’s because syrup preserves items. So purchasing fruit in a syrup base will actually ensure that they last longer than a water base. If an item has sugar in it, it’s going to store a heck of a long time longer than its expiration date. Don’t throw it out willy nilly.
Items which contain oil as one of its primary ingredients will go bad shortly after the expiration date. This includes salad dressings, mayonnaise, and meats stored in oil. So pay attention to the ingredients of items which you intend to store long term.
When your stored food requires the addition of other products, such as pancake mix, cake mixes, soup mixes, etc., they will usually taste just fine so long as you add fresh ingredients such as oil, eggs, milk, produce, etc. (I mean really, just how bad can anything taste with fresh grated cheese melted on top? )
Oats are also very hard to store long term, even under ideal circumstances. I recommend storing groats instead and then use a flaker. Groats will store almost indefinitely in a sealed container in a cool, dry environment.
Canned goods are an ideal way to store items. Number 10 cans are common for just about any food product being stored long-term. Boxed items or items in large paper containers are more challenging to extend. They get wet easily, they are porous, and they are easily infiltrated by “little critters.” While they can go as much as a year longer then their expiration dates, care must be taken to preserve their taste and overall makeup. You can seal boxed items via a Food Saver (sealer) and with an oxy packet and doing so can literally double their shelf-life.
The use of oxy packets in your food storage will also extend their life well past their expiration dates. But when storing food items in a 5 gallon bucket don’t use an oxy packet. Since the plastic is porous it’s essentially useless.
Don’t fall for the myth of “not placing your buckets on concrete.” That’s only applicable if the concrete gets heated. If you’re storing anything on concrete/cement that gets heated, such as with the heat of the sun, then yes, the chemicals from the concrete will leech chemicals from the buckets. However, if it’s in your cool, dry basement, you don’t have to worry about putting the storage containers on the floor.
Ultimately storing foods that you eat and rotating them is the best way to ensure they’re edible and enjoyable. But if you’re storing enough for a year, that’s not always realistic. Appetites, convenience, busy lifestyles, and restaurants come into play. I mean really, I could have a years worth of groceries, but unless the electricity is out and all hell has broken loose, I’m definitely going to make my husband take me out to dinner occasionally.
And that’s the truth about expiration dates.