The ongoing coronavirus lockdown is limiting everyone’s access to grocery stores, so responsible shoppers are making fewer trips to the store and buying larger quantities than usual.
Having extra boxes of pasta and cartons of milk seems like a great plan, but when the “sell by” dates on these items go by, fully stocked households may throw away food products that haven’t actually gone bad, creating unnecessary food waste.
But are there times when it’s OK to eat foods after their marked expiration dates?
Here are five foods that you can safely use past their “sell by” or “use by” dates
Dried Pasta
Cooking up that linguine or penne after the indicated day won’t put you in any danger. The dates refer to a company’s good-faith guarantee rather than to any science-based safety concerns.
For some dry goods, the ‘best by’ date can be a bit artificial and [is] more an indication of how long a company will stand behind the product. A good example is dried pasta.
Canned Goods
Like dried pasta, canned goods undergo preparation and packaging processes focused on keeping them shelf-stable for long periods of time.
According to Birko, a food and safety consultancy firm in the US, Canned goods, as long as the can itself is in good condition and air has not leaked in, can be safe after their suggested ‘best if used by’ date.
Dry Baking Ingredients
Dry goods for baking, such as flour and sugar, don’t present safety concerns if eaten past their marked dates. A quick visual inspection will let you know whether you should toss out the bag or use it in your sourdough or cake batter.
Just like dry processed foods (like oats, grains, and pasta), dry baking ingredients have little or no moisture, so they’re less vulnerable to bacterial growth. Just don’t eat any dry ingredients that have an unnatural smell or signs of a pest infestation.
Milk
OK, so you have a couple of weeks of leeway with eggs. But you need to follow the dates on milk cartons, right?
Birko said if milk are stored correctly (under 41 F), milk can last up to a week after the expiration date. However, it’s always best to use your senses — give it a sniff — to determine if you can continue using it past the expiration date.
Ground Beef
In certain instances, ground beef doesn’t have a “sell by” or “best by” date on its packaging. Instead, it will have a “freeze by” date, which some shoppers mistake for an expiration date.
Healthline.com, an online medical information site urges shoppers to take the “freeze by” dates at face value. A fresh pack of ground beef may have a 14-day shelf life, with an expiration date expressed as a ‘freeze by’ date.
If you freeze it constantly at zero degrees Fahrenheit or lower, the food will stay safe due to the inactivity of microbes present in food.