The expiration date label is there for a reason, but that reason might not always be what you think. While some expiration dates are printed for the consumer to know when a certain food should be disposed of, in other cases, the ‘sell by’ label on a product is a marker of freshness and not its actual expiry. After all, we often purchase foods with the intention of using them up over a course of weeks, or sometimes months, and food producers and sellers incorporate these dates to make sure your food gets to you as fresh as possible.
This article explains what you need to know about expiration dates and how, with certain foods,
you can extend their shelf life significantly and save a good amount of
money. All 14 of these foods shouldn’t be tossed when they reach their
expiration date, and you’re about to find out why.
1. Meat and Fish
The
"sell by" date that typically appears on fresh fish and meat you buy
in-store is printed on each package for retailers or sellers to know
when they should start pulling the product from the shelves, but when it
comes to the consumer, you don't have to get rid of the expensive meat
or fish once it reaches the date if you make sure to freeze or
refrigerate it.
Raw fish, chicken, and meat will last for only 1-2 days
after you purchased it if you keep it in the refrigerator. But if you
put it in the freezer, the shelf life can be extended for months
according to FoodSafety.gov, namely:
- Poultry can be kept in the freezer up to 9 months if it's cut up into pieces, and up to 12 months if whole.
- Fish can be frozen for 6-9 months if bought fresh, but it can be kept frozen up to 12 months if you purchased it frozen, sealed and it didn't thaw while being transported.
- Red meat can be stored upwards to 12 months in steaks, chops, and roasts, and up to 4 months if it's ground up.
Similarly to raw meat and fish, the shelf life of smoked, cured, and cooked products can be extended by 1-2 months if you freeze them, all because freezing significantly slows down the process of oxidation and the multiplication of harmful bacteria in foods.
2. Eggs
Eggs
are another one of those foods that are fine to eat after they have
passed the expiration date printed on the carton or egg. Irrespective of
this date, you are usually fine to use raw eggs for 3-5 weeks after
you've purchased them. If you're doubting the freshness of an egg,
simply crack it into a separate bowl before cooking or using in a recipe
- an egg that has gone off will have a strong sulfur smell that's
difficult to mistake for anything else.
Be
mindful of the way you store eggs. If you bought eggs un-refrigerated,
storing them in the fridge is optional, but refrigerated eggs should
always be stored in the fridge.
3. Hard Cheeses
Unlike
soft cheeses, such as cottage cheese, soft mozzarella or ricotta, which
should be tossed in accordance with the expiration label, most hard
cheeses are safe to eat for weeks past their expiration date. The harder
the cheese, the more fermented and the more resistant to bacteria it
is, which is exactly why aged cheeses, such as parmesan, can remain
unspoiled for months.
When
it comes to determining whether or not a chunk of cheese is still
edible, your nose and eyes are your best tools. If the cheese smells
different than it used to, or if it starts growing mold from the middle,
it's best to part with it, but if it smells fine, and there is a little
mold growing on the side, simply cutting the faulty part off will still
leave you with perfectly fine cheese, since mold is naturally involved
in the production of hard cheeses anyway.
4. Cereal
If
there is one food that doesn't really have an expiry date, it's dry
breakfast cereals. The only catch is to keep the box sealed and
unopened, and you will be able to store a bag of cereal in the pantry
for 6-8 months. After that, the cereal can taste a bit off and become
stale, but even then, you won't get sick if you eat it.
This
is because cereals are dry and processed foods, which makes them among
the easiest to store at room temperature. Needless to say, adding milk
or cooking it, e.g. preparing oatmeal, will require you to eat it
immediately, although oatmeal specifically can be stored for a few days
in the fridge.
5. Yogurt
Don't
throw away an unopened jar or plastic container of yogurt just because
it reached its expiry date, these will still remain just as tasty and
healthy as they used to be for another 2-3 weeks. If you'd like to
extend its shelf life even further, you can also freeze it, which will
give you up to 2 months to use it up.
Once
thawed, though, you'll have to use it up immediately. Needless to say,
any odd smell or presence of mold is a sign that you should part with
the yogurt, after all.
6. Nut Butters
Nut
butters are another one of those foods that can be kept for months even
after you've opened them, irrespective of the expiration date. Surely,
it's best to purchase the freshest option in the store, as, with time,
the taste of nut butter will start to decline, but even these are still
safe to eat.
Both
preservative-free nut butters and those that contain preservatives have
a long shelf life, but understandably, those that contain preservatives
will stay fresh for longer. It's best to store nut butters in the
fridge: natural nut butters can be stored up to 6
months past the expiration date printed on the jar as long as they're
unopened, whereas an unopened jar of nut butter that contains preservatives will be good for up to 12 months past the date.
Spreads
that contain other ingredients, such as Nutella, for example, have a
shorter shelf life -these will last 1-2 months past the date on the
label.
7. Frozen Fruit and Vegetables
As
mentioned previously, freezing prevents foods from spoiling, and this
is also true when it comes to frozen fruit and vegetables, which remain
safe to eat up to 10 months after the expiration date if the package
hasn't been opened. If you have opened the bag, however, try to use it
up as soon as you can, as the freezing can render parts of the fruit and
vegetables dry and hard, a phenomenon known as "freezer burn".
It has to be noted that foods affected by freezer burn are still safe to eat, they're just not too tasty.
