How long past the best before date is it safe to eat a food?
October 17, 2021 9:48 PM Subscribe
I've read that food is generally safe to eat beyond the best before date listed on the package, although the exact number of days after the best before date varies by type of food. Is there somewhere I can lookup a food and it will tell me how many days past best before it's safe to eat?
Best before dates have little to do with food safety - they are about quality (taste, texture, colour).
So you can eat fairly ancient frozen, tinned or dried food if the packages were never opened. It will not have the same texture, taste, colour as the same product that is within its best before date. It is however unlikely to harm you in the absence of other indicators that is is no longer fit for consumption such as mold or pests.
Use by dates on the other hand are generally only assigned to a small number of product groups and they are about food safety - how long can this product be safely consumed if stored appropriately.
posted by koahiatamadl at 10:48 PM on October 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
So you can eat fairly ancient frozen, tinned or dried food if the packages were never opened. It will not have the same texture, taste, colour as the same product that is within its best before date. It is however unlikely to harm you in the absence of other indicators that is is no longer fit for consumption such as mold or pests.
Use by dates on the other hand are generally only assigned to a small number of product groups and they are about food safety - how long can this product be safely consumed if stored appropriately.
posted by koahiatamadl at 10:48 PM on October 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
Like Thella says, it varies.
If it's fresh meat, the guidance is based on how many days since you bought it rather than the date on the package. A factor here is how much time it spends unfrigerated between the shelf and your fridge. Lots of people routinely push this though, and honestly, unless you have a bad GI tract or are immunosuppressed, most of the time you'll get away with it within reason. Most of the FDA guidelines are designed to be overly cautious to protect the most vulnerable but also date to an era when food waste wasn't considered a big deal.
I'll insert my standard reminder that just because old meat doesn't smell bad doesn't mean that it can't give you food poisoning. The smell of "bad" meat is mostly from putrefaction bacteria, which you don't want to eat either, but won't make you sick the way that salmonella can (which is scentless). Growth of one bacteria typically goes hand in hand with others, so the putrefaction smells are a good warning sign that you probably don't want to eat it for other reasons too.
If it's pasteurized dairy, it matters more when you open it than what the date is - sealed half and half or yoghurt will keep for a long time but can start to go bad once it's opened. Same thing with sealed deli meats/prepared foods - you have some wiggle room most of the time as long as it's been properly refrigerated past the best-by date but once it's open, it can start going bad.
Anything that's a prepared food that's just sitting out in the deli section or in non-pasteurized type containers I treat as a ticking time bomb that should be purchased with the intent of eating them rapidly.
Breads can vary quite a bit - I've had fresh bread without preservatives go moldy days before the best by date and bread chock full of preservatives last for months.
Shelf stable foods, on the other hand, are basically just best by dates and you can go quite a long time safely after the date passes without worrying about getting sick, as long as there aren't signs of danger like bulging cans. Some things like oils or peanut butter will go rancid with time, but that's months to years. You won't die from eating it but you won't enjoy the experience.
posted by Candleman at 11:12 PM on October 17, 2021 [6 favorites]
If it's fresh meat, the guidance is based on how many days since you bought it rather than the date on the package. A factor here is how much time it spends unfrigerated between the shelf and your fridge. Lots of people routinely push this though, and honestly, unless you have a bad GI tract or are immunosuppressed, most of the time you'll get away with it within reason. Most of the FDA guidelines are designed to be overly cautious to protect the most vulnerable but also date to an era when food waste wasn't considered a big deal.
I'll insert my standard reminder that just because old meat doesn't smell bad doesn't mean that it can't give you food poisoning. The smell of "bad" meat is mostly from putrefaction bacteria, which you don't want to eat either, but won't make you sick the way that salmonella can (which is scentless). Growth of one bacteria typically goes hand in hand with others, so the putrefaction smells are a good warning sign that you probably don't want to eat it for other reasons too.
If it's pasteurized dairy, it matters more when you open it than what the date is - sealed half and half or yoghurt will keep for a long time but can start to go bad once it's opened. Same thing with sealed deli meats/prepared foods - you have some wiggle room most of the time as long as it's been properly refrigerated past the best-by date but once it's open, it can start going bad.
Anything that's a prepared food that's just sitting out in the deli section or in non-pasteurized type containers I treat as a ticking time bomb that should be purchased with the intent of eating them rapidly.
Breads can vary quite a bit - I've had fresh bread without preservatives go moldy days before the best by date and bread chock full of preservatives last for months.
Shelf stable foods, on the other hand, are basically just best by dates and you can go quite a long time safely after the date passes without worrying about getting sick, as long as there aren't signs of danger like bulging cans. Some things like oils or peanut butter will go rancid with time, but that's months to years. You won't die from eating it but you won't enjoy the experience.
posted by Candleman at 11:12 PM on October 17, 2021 [6 favorites]
Except for infant formula, product dating is not required by [US] Federal regulations.
posted by Thella at 1:17 AM on October 18, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Thella at 1:17 AM on October 18, 2021 [1 favorite]
One guide is the time between the date of purchase and the nominal "use by" date. If it's fresh meat, and the interval is two days, it's clearly different from tuna in a pouch where the end date is 2 years out. Actually, on reflection, meat is "sell by" and as a practical matter would have to be OK for a week if stored properly.
One product I do know a bit about is diet soda. The bottlers get it on the shelf within a day or two of bottling if they can, and the "use by" is somewhere in the 6 to 8 weeks range. The artificial sweeteners degrade in that time enough for a buyer with a sensitive palate to notice. Sugar sweetened sodas can be stored for much longer without issue.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:27 AM on October 18, 2021
One product I do know a bit about is diet soda. The bottlers get it on the shelf within a day or two of bottling if they can, and the "use by" is somewhere in the 6 to 8 weeks range. The artificial sweeteners degrade in that time enough for a buyer with a sensitive palate to notice. Sugar sweetened sodas can be stored for much longer without issue.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:27 AM on October 18, 2021
The artificial sweeteners degrade in that time enough for a buyer with a sensitive palate to notice.
My mom used to stock up on caffeine-free diet coke and store it for as much as 8 years before drinking. I wonder if she got used to the 'expired' taste?
posted by dmd at 5:48 AM on October 18, 2021
My mom used to stock up on caffeine-free diet coke and store it for as much as 8 years before drinking. I wonder if she got used to the 'expired' taste?
posted by dmd at 5:48 AM on October 18, 2021
I volunteer at a food pantry. We use the lower of these guidelines from USDA (table at the bottom of the page). Basically, as you suspected, depends on the packaging. PSA - please don't use this as an excuse to donate your expired food to a food bank - many volunteer hours are spent checking the "best by" dates (and we do laugh incredulously at people who think it's ok to do this).
posted by Dotty at 5:52 AM on October 18, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by Dotty at 5:52 AM on October 18, 2021 [7 favorites]
dmd, my comment refers mostly to aspertame-sweetened sodas, which I think is most diet soda since about 1985. Other sweeteners, especially saccharine, have longer shelf life.
posted by SemiSalt at 7:28 AM on October 18, 2021
posted by SemiSalt at 7:28 AM on October 18, 2021
You want StillTasty: Your Ultimate Shelf Life Guide.
posted by jocelmeow at 8:01 AM on October 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by jocelmeow at 8:01 AM on October 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
Use by dates on the other hand are generally only assigned to a small number of product groups and they are about food safety
This isn’t the case in the US, unfortunately.
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 2:36 PM on October 18, 2021 [1 favorite]
This isn’t the case in the US, unfortunately.
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 2:36 PM on October 18, 2021 [1 favorite]
Also relevant to the question, particularly with prepared foods, is whether it contains sufficient preservatives to prevent it from going bad. Sufficient sugar, salt, or acid will keep fresh food safe longer than foods without.
posted by Candleman at 4:32 PM on October 18, 2021
posted by Candleman at 4:32 PM on October 18, 2021
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Thella at 10:40 PM on October 17, 2021 [3 favorites]