Food expiration dates are sometimes arbitrary and not science-based

[weinoo]

10 hours ago, cdh said:

Milk especially... some milk last a week past date and is fine.  Some milk goes funky 4 or 5 days before the date.  Just have to be attentive to your dairy... Smell tests and coffee curdling test beat a date stamp any day. 

 

And there's nothing like seeing cases of milk stacked in the aisle of one's local grocery store, warming up while waiting to be stocked on the shelves.  

 

We generally have no control over how the product is handled, once it leaves the place where it is packaged into what we buy.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

6 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

And there's nothing like seeing cases of milk stacked in the aisle of one's local grocery store, warming up while waiting to be stocked on the shelves.  

 

We generally have no control over how the product is handled, once it leaves the place where it is packaged into what we buy.

 

 

The local Shoprite stocks the milk shelves from a refrigerated room situated behind the shelves.  The shelves are actually part of the refrigerated room.

 

[heidih]

10 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

The local Shoprite stocks the milk shelves from a refrigerated room situated behind the shelves.  The shelves are actually part of the refrigerated room.

 

My local Ralphs/Kroger does that. They are good.

[blue_dolphin]

12 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

The local Shoprite stocks the milk shelves from a refrigerated room situated behind the shelves.  The shelves are actually part of the refrigerated room.

 

I can't think of a local store that does it any other way....oh wait...maybe Sprouts? But everyone else has the set-up you describe for dairy.

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

The local Shoprite stocks the milk shelves from a refrigerated room situated behind the shelves.  The shelves are actually part of the refrigerated room

 

49 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

I can't think of a local store that does it any other way....oh wait...maybe Sprouts? But everyone else has the set-up you describe for dairy.

 

You've never shopped in a supermarket on the lower east side of Manhattan, I'm guessing?

[blue_dolphin]

2 minutes ago, weinoo said:

ou've never shopped in a supermarket on the lower east side of Manhattan, I'm guessing?

 

You guess correctly!

[palo]

An overview:

 

https://apnews.com/article/food-waste-best-before-dates-fe1d8ce11c15c40c35c02eefd3526166

 

p

[TdeV]

Hoping my query gets some traction in this thread

 

I have some Chorizo Casero by Espuna (dry cured) which I bought two years ago from Spain. It was manufactured in USA. There were originally 5 little sausages; I used 2 and vacuum sealed the rest. They've been sitting on a shelf in the fridge.

 

Wikipedia says "In Europe, chorizo is a fermented, cured, smoked meat, which may be sliced and eaten without cooking, or added as an ingredient to add flavor".

 

Can these sausages be used?

 

 

Edited May 14, 2023 by TdeV
Correction (log)

[rotuts]

@TdeV 

 

i do not have a clear answer for you .

 

I lived in Spain for two years 

 

1960.  I was 10 initially 

 

thus I love spanish chorizo , w the smoked paprika flavor

 

for quite some time , cured meats from Spain

 

were on an Embargo list.

 

I discovered 

 

La Tienda , in the NewYork-ish area 

 

https://www.tienda.com/index.html

 

and

 

LaEsoanola   USA

 

https://laespanolameats.com

 

Ive had sausage from espinosa 

 

the I kept in the crisper in the refrigerator 

 

for quite some time  , and am fine so far

 

my concern  would be :

 

does the VacSeal , ( not frozen ) refrig'd

 

change something that might then  harm you ?

 

no idea.

 

I did the other day look at both the above places 

 

and the shipping , theses day 

 

put quite a dent in my enthusiasm.

 

 

[AlaMoi]

"expiration / best by / use by" dates in USA (note:  USA is not the whole world...) are - with a single exception - dates established by the manufacturer, typically cited as "timeframe for best quality"

 

being a bit non-conformist, I don't hesitate to use stuff that is days to months "out of date" (depending on the foodstuff) - but two years on a (non-pasteurized) meat product most definitely exceeds my bounds.  I would not use/eat the stuff at this point.

[Kerry Beal]

I've used dry cured sausages after years without the slightest concern. 

[Elkyfr]

6 hours ago, TdeV said:

Hoping my query gets some traction in this thread

 

I have some Chorizo Casero by Espuna (dry cured) which I bought two years ago from Spain. It was manufactured in USA. There were originally 5 little sausages; I used 2 and vacuum sealed the rest. They've been sitting on a shelf in the fridge.

 

Wikipedia says "In Europe, chorizo is a fermented, cured, smoked meat, which may be sliced and eaten without cooking, or added as an ingredient to add flavor".

 

Can these sausages be used?

 

 

 

Chorizo and other sausages have been used for years as a preserve, with a lot of salt inside. They were hung up and consumed when they wanted, but as time went by they dried up, sweated the water and became harder. But it was still edible, the drier the more flavour, and they were typically used for beans and stews. Open in half, see how they look and smell, you should not have any problems.

[liuzhou]

In many cultures, if not all, sausages were invented as a way to preserve meat in the days before refrigeration. Families would slaughter a pig and make some of the meat into sausages dry them before the meat went bad.

 

Here in China (and many other countries) some families in the countryside still do. But city families also make sausages to see them through the winter.

 

A selection of home made sausages in my kitchen in China

 

Sausages Drying

 

Edited May 15, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[chromedome]

6 hours ago, liuzhou said:

In many cultures, if not all, sausages were invented as a way to preserve meat in the days before refrigeration. Families would slaughter a pig and make some of the meat into sausages would make them and dry them before the meat went bad.

 

Here in China (and many other countries) some families in the countryside still do. But city families also make sausages to see them through the winter.

 

A selection of home made sausages in my kitchen in China

 

Sausages Drying

 

I had an immediate mental image of youngsters sinking a long ball and crowing about hitting "nothin' but pork!"