Is Expired Food Safe to Eat?

Confusion over expiration dates means that tons of perfectly good food is thrown out every day.

| Dec 12, 2019 04:08 AM EST

Created: Dec 12, 2019 04:08 AM EST

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Americans throw out between 30% and 40% of the food they have purchased. A USDA study in 2018 showed that the average American throws out almost 1 pound of food a day!

In 2010, an estimated 133 billion pounds of food from U.S. retail food stores, restaurants, and homes, valued at approximately $161 billion went uneaten, and the bill for dumping all this uneaten food into landfills was more than $2 billion.

Three types of labels

Food carries any of these three types of dates:

Best If Used By/Before Date – found on more perishable items such as meat, it states when a product is of the best quality or flavor
Sell By Date – used by manufacturers to tell retailers when to remove a product from their shelves
Use By Date – that last date that guarantees the safety of the product.

Companies come up with these dates by considering how the food is packaged, at what temperature it will be transported, how long it might be un-refrigerated, and at what temperature the consumer's fridge will be. They then make their best guess as to when the food could possibly first spoil.

In an attempt to standardize this labeling, in May 2016, the Food Date Labeling Act was introduced in both houses of Congress, but the bill is still mired in committee in both houses.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Food Marketing Institute, along with 25 manufacturers and retailers, have set a goal of updating the labeling of all consumer packaged goods by January 2020. They have been working to standardize product labeling by using only two labels: "Best If Used By" to indicate the best quality, and "Use By" for perishable foods to indicate the date after which the food should be thrown out.

How do you know if your food is safe?

The best way to determine if your food is safe to eat is to use your eyes and nose. Does the food's color look right? Is its odor all right? How is its texture? The USDA has created a free app, FoodKeeper, to help you determine whether your food is safe to eat.

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Is Expired Food Safe to Eat? — *Source: millann/iStock*

In general, canned goods such as tuna, soups, and vegetables are good for 2 - 5 years, but an exception is high-acid foods, such as canned tomatoes, juices, and pickles. They are only good for 12 to 18 months. If your cans show dents or bulges, toss them.

Food	How Long It Lasts	Tips
Apples	In the fridge, 4 - 8 weeks	If it is wrinkled or feels mushy, toss it.
Avocado	At room temperature, 4 - 7 days	Pull off the small stem, and if the skin beneath it is green, the avocado is ripe
Baking powder	At room temperature, about 1 year	After a year, it loses its leavening ability, to test, add 1 teaspoon to 1/2 cup of hot water, if you see bubbles, it's still good
Bananas	At room temperature, 2 - 5 days	Some brown spots are OK, ripe bananas are easy to peel
Blueberries	In the fridge, 1 - 2 weeks	Eat soon after buying, if they look moldy or feel moist, toss
Bread	As long as it doesn't smell sour or spoiled	Mold can be cut off, and stale bread makes excellent croutons or French toast
Broccoli	In the fridge, 7 - 14 days	If it looses its dark green color or the stems feel mushy, toss
Canola oil	At room temperature, 1 year	Keep it in a cool, dry place away from the stove; toss if it gets an unpleasant flavor or smell
Carrots	In the fridge, 3 - 4 weeks	Toss if they feel limp or look grainy
Cereal	Up to 1 year	Store in an air-tight container in a cool, dry place
Cheese	Hard cheese remove the mold, soft cheese toss	Just scrape off mold on hard cheeses, if you see mold on soft cheeses, toss the cheese
Chocolate	Weeks after its "Sell By" date	The white film that forms on old chocolate isn't mold, it's "chocolate bloom" and is safe to eat, store chocolate in a cool, dry place
Coffee, ground	1 week after being ground	Store un-refrigerated whole coffee beans for up to 6 months, store in an air-tight container in the freezer for up to 2 years
Cucumbers	In the fridge, 1 week	Toss if it has any sunken areas, or if the skin is yellow or wrinkly
Eggs	Refrigerated, 2 weeks after their "Sell By" date	To determine freshness, place the egg in a glass of water, if it sinks, it's still OK, if it floats, it's spoiled and should be thrown out
Flour	At room temperature 6 - 8 months past its "Best By" date	Whole wheat flour will go bad more quickly due to its essential oils, if the flour has an unpleasant odor or taste, toss it
Frozen vegetables	In the freezer, around 2 months	While they won't go bad, their flavor will fade, and they can get freezer burn
Garlic	At room temperature, 3 - 6 months	If it's grown sprouts, just remove them, but toss if it has become tan or wrinkly
Juice	After opening 5 - 7 days in the fridge, freshly squeezed 48 hours	Freshly squeezed juice isn't pasteurized so it spoils really quickly, toss if it is discolored or smells sour
Ketchup	Usually safe long past its "Best By" date, after being opened, 4 - 6 months	Store opened ketchup in the refrigerator, toss unopened bottles a year after its expiration date
Lettuce, iceberg and romaine	In the fridge, 7 - 10 days	Toss if it turns tan, feels soggy or has a bad smell
Lemons	In the fridge, 3 - 4 weeks	Toss if it has dark or soft spots
Maple syrup	At room temperature, about 2 years	Mold can begin to grow, so two years is probably about the longest it should be kept
Milk	Opened milk 4 - 7 days past its printed date, refrigerated, unopened whole milk lasts 5 - 7 days, 2% and 1% lasts 7 days, non-fat milk lasts 7 - 10 days past its printed date	When refrigerated at 34 ° F
Mushrooms	In the fridge, 7 - 10 days	If they feel sticky or slimy, toss, whole mushrooms keep longer than sliced mushrooms
Onions	At room temperature, 6 months in winter 1 - 2 months in summer	Toss if it has soft or brown spots
Oranges	In the fridge, 3 - 4 weeks	If there are soft spots, toss
Peaches	At room temperature 1 - 3 days	If discolored with dark patches, toss
Pasta	Dried pasta, over 2 years, fresh pasta, 2 - 3 weeks	Store dry pasta in a cool, dry place, refrigerate fresh pasta
Peanut butter	In the fridge, processed and natural peanut butter, 6 months after opening, unopened natural peanut butter, 3 months	Extend its life by keeping it refrigerated
Potato chips	For sealed bags, months past its expiration date, for unsealed bags, several weeks past	Expired chips may lose their flavor and crunch
Potatoes	At room temperature, 3 - 5 weeks	Even if it has short sprouts, it's OK, if sprouts are longer than a few centimeters, toss
Pickles	In the fridge, up to 2 years	Don't use your fingers to grab a pickle, use a utensil, if they lose their crispy texture, or get slimy and soft, toss them
Rice	White rice, several years, brown and wild rice, 6 months	Store your rice in an air-tight container at a temperature below 40 degrees F
Soda	Unopened cans and bottles, 6 - 9 months past their "Best By" date	While not spoiling, the soda may lose its carbonation or flavor
Spices	For green spices, such as oregano and thyme, 1 year, ground spices 2 years, whole seeds and peppercorns 3 - 4 years	Keeping spices away from air can extend their shelf life
Strawberries	Refrigerated, 3 - 7 days	Toss if you see mold
String beans	In the fridge, 3 - 5 days	If they're limp or moist, toss
Tea	At room temperature, 2 years	You can store tea in the freezer to extend its shelf life
Tomatoes	At room temperature, 1 week	If they become soft and ooze liquid, toss
Watermelon	At room temperature, 7 - 10 days	Watermelon is ripe if it sounds hollow when tapped, if it develops soft spots, toss
Yeast	Use within 6 months of opening the package	If it turns dark brown and clumps together, toss it
Yogurt	1 - 2 weeks past its "Sell By" date	If the yogurt separates, its just the whey protein separating and you can stir it back in
Zucchini	In the fridge, 4 - 5 days	If it turns gray, toss.

Tips for keeping your food safe longer

Here are a couple of tips for keeping your food safe longer. Don't store milk in your fridge's door. Every time you open the fridge, the milk is being exposed to warm air which promotes bacterial growth. Screw the milk's lid on tightly to prevent odors from other fridge items from seeping in.

Don't use your fingers to remove pickles from their jar, or to remove shredded cheese from its packaging, use a utensil. Wrap fresh broccoli in a damp paper towel. Wrap celery in tinfoil rather than plastic. Store asparagus in the fridge stem down in a glass container with half an inch of water at the bottom.