On Sat, 22 Jan 2011 22:44:14 -0500, "dejablues"
> 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.
>
>Food banks are not allowed to give out expired foods. If you would not eat
>it, do not donate it.

I eat foods past their "best-by"/"sell-by" date all the time. I have
a freezer full of meats (and other foods-baked goods) that are all
past their sell-by date, most by several months. I have foods in my
freezer I cooked more than a year ago, no use-by dates. I freeze
fresh veggies from my garden, not cooked at all, not even blanched,
just used a bag of green beans was harvested in 2008, as good as any
Birdeye just bought. I buy many canned/jarred goods by the case, most
get eaten after their best-by date... if the safety seal on a jar is
not popped it's perfectly wholesome regardless the use-by date.
Nothing prevents food banks from dispensing items past their use-by
date other than that they are ****in' idiots, don't possess an ounce
of common sense... no one ever got sick from eating pasta past its
best-used-by date, whether eaten raw or boiled to death. I must have
fifty pounds of variously shaped pasta in my pantry, most well past
their best-used-by date... I eat them all the time without ever
considering those dates... there's only one kind of date I examine
carefully before eating, and I don't care how long past their best-by
date... I bet you're well past your prime but still have a few more
good miles left... how'd you like it if you were told you're no longer
allowed? LOL