I definitely use my own judgment. Does it look like normal? Does it smell like normal? If so, then I usually will use it (unless it's a loooong time past it's expiration date).

Well, first of all, it's important to distinguish between 'expiration dates' and 'best by dates' and 'sell by dates'. If something says it's expiring by March 27th, for example, I'd pitch it. Or if my package of meat says, "Use of freeze by March 18th", I'd best be doing just that. I had lamb in the fridge one time that I let go maybe one or two dates past the "Use or freeze by" date, and it went rancid and stank up the fridge like you wouldn't believe.

'Sell by' and 'Best if used by', however, leave some more leeway. 'Sell by' just means that a store should have that product out their door by that date -- the customer still has some time after that for it to be good. (I can't believe how many people pitch milk on the 'Sell by' date when it'll still be good for a few days.) And 'best if used by' doesn't mean that something is automatically spoiled as of that date, it's just not as good as when if was brought home from the store.

Seriously, people need to use their common (or not-so-common) sense.

@Trish1980 I generally agree with you, however knowing that those terms and dates aren't regulated makes me question their authority.

We should all use our spidey senses to judge freshness on all food before we eat it.

i always struggle with salad dressings... the seem to have far off expiration dates, but once they're open, if i don't use them in a month, i start to question their freshness... and sometimes things say use within 7 days of opening! yikes! makes me anxious...

My Mom always told me "When in doubt throw it out" and I still live by that.

However, some things have expiration dates that wont expire if stored properly - like vanilla beans. It just depends - but if I dont know I generally through it out.

This is where the internet comes in handy. There are many sources with information on expiration for different food items; google is all it takes. And soon, after you've done this for a while, you start to learn and then you can judge for yourself whether something is truly 'expired' or not.

I am a chef (with a big nose) and I use it. All the time. At work and at home and even when I go out to eat. Just because a restaurant serves you a piece of fish, doesn't mean that fish is fresh. If the fish emits an ammonia odor at the table--it is bad, simple as that. If the chef tells you, "that's the way it's supposed to be" he is wrong.

Same goes for milk. If it smells bad (the milk, not the rim of the bottle or the container itself) it is bad. If it has been held below 40 degrees F at ALL times and does not smell and is beyond the expiration date, most likely it is not bad.

I work with a lot of Europeans (who are from the same place) and they will not accept the fact that a product is acceptable if it has gone beyond its expiration date. They will immediately throw the container (full or not) into the trash. This is quite frustrating.

Organic milk for instance will last way beyond it's expiration date because it is more heavily pasteurized than conventional and that's because organic doesn't move as quickly as it's less expensive alternatives--so it's designed to be able to sit around even longer.

So does common sense tell us to throw the container out because the factory put a date on the package? Or does common sense say to smell and taste whether or not the the product is bad and then discard?

I wonder how much science is behind the expiration date?

ok, now I will read the article.

I regularly eat things that are past their 'expiration dates'. I look at it and smell it and take a small taste to start. I've eaten yogurt two weeks past the date and it's been find. especially if something's unopened, I rarely have problems with it. and for the record, I've never given myself food poisoning.

around here we mostly use our judgement if it is something we are familiar with. Yogurt for example we have used many times way past its date. A lot of dairy it is very clear if it has gone bad or not, and we will use it past expire date if it looks, smells etc fine.

With meats a lot more careful tho. Like someone else said when i doubt throw it out. If im not sure not worth the risk.

I don't usually let anything get beyond its expiration date, everything that is bought is for a specific purpose and it will be used.

We once had a discussion at work about who had eaten the oldest cup of yogurt. I think 6 months won, and she said it still tasted fine. I’ve eaten yogurts several months expired, although never without giving them a good sniff first! Save your money and rely on your senses for foods that you’re familiar with. After all, a lot of grocery store foods have enough preservatives to last a lifetime.

I agree with art. The nose knows, particularly with meat and fish.

I go by how it looks and smells. And some things regardless of expiration dates I assume last practically forever if stored well like rice, pasta, etc. Seriously, I just looked at the box of macaroni I bought last week and it says use by Nov 2010, I'm pretty sure it will be fine after that.

There are limits at which things get tossed. Can of tuna that expired last week? Probably fine. Last year? That heads to the trash. Unopened bag of frozen corn that expired 6 months ago? Fine. Moose meat a hunter gave me 4 years ago and I never ate? No expiration date but in the trash it goes (did that a couple weeks ago, couldn't believe how old some stuff in my freezer was).

I'm a big fan of www.stilltasty.com. But even then, if it looks and smells okay... I'm eating it.

I like stilltasty.com.

I tend to be VERY cautious about throwing things out that claim to be expired. I'm kind of terrified of rotted food. I've also been known to occasionally think something smells/tastes usable but slightly weird when in reality it is very, very much not edible. Something in my taste/smell sense only registers rotting things as vaguely unpleasant rather than totally putrid.

It depends what the product is.

I buy my milk in 1L cartons instead of 2-3L plastic bottles because even though it is a little more expensive the milk lasts much longer. Even 2 weeks after the 'use by' date on the bottle my cartons have been fine.

I always try to eat meats before the 'use by' or freeze them. Everything else I'll sniff, then taste a little and use my own judgement.

I always wondered about vitamins- I bought this HUGE vitamin bottle from Costco, and it expired Dec 09 (I still have about 1/2 of it left!)... I'm still taking it, but wonder if it's still as effective?

funny story: i'm not a big baker but bought sweetened condensed milk for fudge or something years ago. when i was recently cleaning out my cupboards trying to eat everything up i opened the SC milk and freaked out. it was so thick and sticky. so i threw away the others. then i went to make pumpkin pie and bought new stuff. it was the same consistency! i had never used SC milk before so i didn't know.

someone once told me (who works for food manufacturer) that it is still fine to consume food which expiration date is over 2 weeks old ...

NPR did an interview with Arumugam recently that is interesting to listen to:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123974568&ft=1&f=1053

I have no problem with deciding when I have to eat my food, but my deeper lying fear is: what is done, for example, to milk that makes it keep until expiry two weeks? Our milk in Italy must be treated differently, however it is done, because it would most likely go bad after only two weeks. Is your milk still to be considered food if it keeps so long??

It depends on what it is for me too. I use my nose a lot too. One thing with eggs - they are good for 35 days past the point of packaging. But the companies generally only stamp them for 28 days - on the end of the carton is a 3-digit number and that is the packaging day (not date, but day of the year, as in "101" means the 101st day of the year) - count 35 days from that and that's the real expiration date. I can't remember how I learned this, but it has served me well :)

My husband used to work in a dairy company, and told me that things like evaporated milk, condensed milk and light cream (in cans), are good for at least six months AFTER the expiration dates. The product often change consistency or color after the expiration date (condended milk turns darker and denser), but it's absolutely safe and it's still good. Here in Brazil the expiration dates were regulated in the 80's, and old people often ignore them. I ignore the labels in things like spices, or else, I'd have to toss all my spices every 3 months... :P

I'm super frugal about this, except with fresh meat or seafood. Obviously the nose test is first, plus the "no visible mold" - and even that I've been known to ignore on cheese.

I think it also helps to know a little about how food is preserved. Things with lots of vinegar (pickles or salad dressing), or salt (preserved lemons or soy sauce) or sugar (jam or chutney) or that are dried (sundried tomatoes, pasta) tend to last a VERY long time, because the fresh foods were processed that way specifically for that reason. And originally they were designed to do so at room temperature, so if it's kept in the fridge they can last much longer than a manufacturer states. I have a cousin who's always going through the fridge throwing out "expired" jars of grape jelly and pickle relish and I make fun of him for this.

"Is your milk still to be considered food if it keeps so long??"

Good question ... half the time I'm not sure if most things sold in the grocery store can be considered food!

I don't run into the expiration date problem very often b/c I try to avoid overly processed foods. I usually buy meat frozen (that's the way my local producer sells it b/c of the processor having to comply w/state laws that don't take into account small, local farms).

I'd say cheese is the most frustrating one for me, especially veined cheeses. The good mold is yummy. But the bad mold? Horrid!

one thing i found out recently that has really amazed me is, if you store store bought tortillas in the fridge they will last up to 90 days past the date on the package! i cant tell you how pissed off i would be throwing away a package of tortillas with only eating 4-5 of them! its also nice now that i know this because i seem to ALWAYS have some tortillas on hand when i need them.

also as someone else has said about yogurt...i have been fine eating some two weeks past the date. it doesn't sell bad so i eat it! same thing with sour cream (i use light sour cream so i dont know if that makes a difference). i will find an unopened container in the back of the fridge that was forgotten about and is 2-3 weeks (sometimes more) past the date. i open it up and it smells fine and so i taste test it and its fine. i find that the same thing holds true for cream cheese! bags of shredded cheese will stay around at my house until they are moldy or some how too much moisture gets into the bag. i have a bag of asiago cheese that "expired" almost a year ago and i still use it!

well thats my 10 cents.

I use http://www.stilltasty.com/

It's like my expiration bible and they have great tips on how to store things either in the pantry, fridge or freezer! I am extremely paranoid about expiration dates and just generally food expiring! Two things I would never ever risk is dairy (milk) and deli meat.

As far as I know expiration dates are stablished by safety issues (how long it take to start to spoil) and sensory issues (how long it will take to people to find something not so tasty) with all the modern techniques of preservating food and by following the right procedures for storage safety issues are not so big deal

in most foods the "use by" date is a little less time that the 50% of people will start to percive something diferent in the food

I never fuss about this. I've not gotten food poisoning, either. I think paranoia is more upsetting to my digestion than anything past its sell-by date. I smell it, I taste it.
And I have to wonder at Italian milk--what about that long-life stuff? That weirds me out more than pasteurization.

I'm not normally too concerned with expiration dates. Like others have said, as long as the food looks and smells alright, I use my judgement.

However, I am expecting my first child, and in my first trimester, I was extremely cautious. You can accidentally give yourself and your babe food poisoning, and I just don't feel for a few months that it's worth it. But everyone has their own comfort zones, so it's great to hear everyone's opinions.

For milk, eggs, and meat, I sniff and inspect, but for canned goods, I don't risk it. They've already been around for years by their expiration dates, which kind of grosses me out.

I agree with Palmetto, and I've never had food poisoning either. I use my eyes, nose, and tongue to determine whether something is still edible. I do the float test on eggs past their date and smell/taste milk. It isn't that my (whole, organic) milk isn't real, it's just that pasteurization and refrigeration help it last.

I also scoop mold jam, cut or scrape it from cheese, and even bread if it's only a tiny amount. If the flavor is still good after doctoring it, I will still eat the food. If it tastes off I'll throw it out. I have a sensitive palate that hasn't steered me wrong yet.

Of course, like kimia2006, I wouldn't be so cavalier about it if I were pregnant, but until then I'll keep relying on my senses to determine my food safety.

Where I don't cut corners is in heating meat to proper temperature, cleanliness when prepping and cooking, and washing all vegetables--even bag salads when I occasionally resort to them.