In article >,
"Julie Bove" > wrote:

> "Brooklyn1" <Gravesend1> wrote in message
> ...
> > On Sat, 22 Jan 2011 18:21:23 -0500, "dejablues"
> > > wrote:
> >
> >>Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> >>> In article >,
> >>> Tracy > wrote:
> >>>> Sorry, I didn't mean to not use common sense with regard to tossing
> >>>> expired food. However, I don't think it is appropriate to donate
> >>>> obviously expired food to homeless shelters. "Hey, here's some
> >>>> expired food I won't eat, but you can have it".
> >>>>
> >>>> Tracy
> >>>
> >>> I absolutely agree with that, Tracy. At the food shelf I support,
> >>> Best By or Use By or Expiration dates are checked when the groceries
> >>> are received. Past dated stuff does not get distributed to the
> >>> needy. (I wouldn't be the least bit surprised, though, if it gets
> >>> distributed among the volunteer workers. I don't know if it does but
> >>> it would not surprise me.)
> >>
> >>From my experience in a few years of working with the Boy Scouts annual
> >>food
> >>drive, you'd be amazed at the amount of expired food that gets donated. It
> >>all gets tossed. What a waste of food, labor, and time.
> >
> > What I'm amazed at is how ignorant they are to toss perfectly good
> > food that folks would be happy to receive. Best-used-by dates mean
> > exactly that, doesn't mean expired/unfit to eat. No one could
> > possibly tell that a bottle of ketchup was past it's "best used by"
> > date... even Stan couln't say. I have eaten canned beets way past
> > their best-used-by date, perfectly wholesome. I don't think anyone is
> > donating a raw cod fish caught last week and kept in the trunk of
> > their car in 90º weather... big difference from a can of Bumble Bee
> > tuna past its best-used-by date. This morning I opened a can of
> > Carnation Evap, on the bottom of the can it says "Best Used By
> > 07/17/2011". Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. . . I'll bet it would
> > still be good by 07/17/2111. ****in' idiots!
> >
> > Folks are getting carried away with this use-by nonsense... won't be
> > long they'll print best used by on a box of salt, like salt is gonna
> > spoil, it's only been here since this planet was created.
>
> I have eaten "best by" things that were past their date. Some seemed to
> taste fine. Others, like chips, did not. I just ate sourdough bread that
> expired on the 18th. It wasn't moldy but was a bit dried out. Would have
> been fine for toast or a grilled cheese sandwich. But it was kind of
> crumbly for my turkey sandwich.
>
> I have bought the kind of cheese that was cut from a big wheel. It tends to
> go moldy if much past the "sell by" date. I used to buy a flaxseed bread
> that I could never eat all of before it expired. It was always moldy by the
> "sell by" date and often moldy three days before! I quit buying it.
>
> Would I take expired food if someone gave it to me because it was free?
> Nope.

Categorically? Why not?


> When I did eat the expired chips, I didn't realize they were expired until I
> tasted them. They were not very crisp and had a dull flavor.

Sometimes a couple minutes in a hot oven will crisp them up.

--
Barb