Can I eat this, umpteenth edition

January 29, 2020 1:59 PM

The foods in question: 2 plastic tubs of candied citron, opened, expiry date 2014 and 2016. 1 tub unopened candied citron, expiry date 2016. 1 tub candied cherries, expiry 2016. The only reason I am even asking is because sugar is a preservative, thus do these things really "expire?" I want to know whether to include some in my pound cake or not. Thanks.
posted by Crystal Fox to Food & Drink (7 answers total)

As long as it's not too dried out (or worse, damp/slimy), that's absolutely fine in my opinion.
posted by ambrosen at 2:04 PM on January 29, 2020 [1 favorite]

Though sugar is a preservative, and these are likely safe to eat, I find that old candied citrus peel tends to develop unpleasant off flavors even when it isn't spoiled in a microbiological sense. I assume this is because the oils/terpenes responsible for its flavor evaporate and/or oxidize.

I'd recommend tasting it, and ask yourself "does this taste good enough to eat on its own?" If the answer is no, I'd also skip it as an ingredient.
posted by pullayup at 2:16 PM on January 29, 2020 [18 favorites]

Unhealthy-bad would be something like mold, I think. But def. taste it; might not be pleasant.
posted by theora55 at 2:28 PM on January 29, 2020

Not the same product but I had some really stale skittles at the movies recently. So yeah, probably just gonna be too unpleasant to eat at this point both in flavor and texture.
posted by acidnova at 2:42 PM on January 29, 2020

Response by poster: Ok I went ahead and tasted it and while it is not fresh or strong it still has a decent texture. This is not something I would normally use; it just happened that this is what was on hand for this particular purpose. Thanks for chiming in.
posted by Crystal Fox at 3:40 PM on January 29, 2020 [1 favorite]

I wish every “ can I eat it “ question required a follow-up so we know the Asker survived.
posted by Ideefixe at 4:48 PM on January 29, 2020 [8 favorites]

Response by poster: I am happy to report that after ingesting the food in question, I feel no ill effects....
posted by Crystal Fox at 9:00 PM on January 29, 2020 [8 favorites]