For the Toss and Keep threads....

[dogmom]

My DH and I always have this ongoing battle. He goes, "Is X still good?" figuring I know because I bought it. I'm like, "I don't know, I what does it look/smell like?" Someone he keeps asking me this question. I was raised with the notion, probably to save money, that very few things "go bad," sometimes they just aren't as good. I'm always shocked that my DH wants to throw something out because I cooked it last week. If it has been in the back of the ridge, packaged up right, and smells OK it's fine. Even if it smells, not that I would eat it, it's not going to make you sick.

I found a good article about the amount of food we throw away that is still good because of "sell by" dates that have nothing to do with food safety. The quote that is great is:

"None of this improves food safety or public health. Food borne illnesses rarely come from old food. Listeria, salmonella and other nasty things are not the result of an extended sojourn in our refrigerators."

Here's the link.

http://cognoscenti.wbur.org/2013/02/26/food-waste-expiration-date-louisa-kasdon

[Kindra178]

Thanks for posting. Some of the related articles listed below the one you posted are also eye opening. I just gave my sick kid oj that "expired" on March 4.

My parents eat old food all the time (year old salad dressing, homemade meals over a week old, week old lunch meat) and have never been sick from that food. They also rely on taste and smell.

[elbenn]

I have some greek yogurt that just expired. It is unopened so I think that as long as it smells fine then it's okay to eat. I need to read the article posted and see what they say.

[Melaine]

My friend who works for DHEC has confirmed this.

[wendibird22]

DH always asks me to determine if something is "bad" and I say, "Well, smell it!" and he says, "No you smell it. I can never tell." Really, you can't tell if something smells bad? If your eyes don't water or you don't repeal back from the container in disgust than it's not gone bad.

[Kindra178]

I also love www.stilltasty.com.

[candaceb]

DH always asks me to determine if something is "bad" and I say, "Well, smell it!" and he says, "No you smell it. I can never tell." Really, you can't tell if something smells bad? If your eyes don't water or you don't repeal back from the container in disgust than it's not gone bad.

I'm with your DH. There have been many times when I have sniffed the milk before breakfast and decided it was fine, and then DH comes downstairs, sniffs the same jug of milk and starts gagging. He is definitely more sensitive to "rotting" smells than I am - I just don't notice. I am more sensitive to perfume-y smells. It drove one of my roommates nuts because I couldn't stand the plug-in air freshener she had in her room and I was always closing her door - one day she screamed at me "how come you can't smell the rotting trash but my air freshener bothers you?!?!?!?"

[rin]

I'm with your DH. There have been many times when I have sniffed the milk before breakfast and decided it was fine, and then DH comes downstairs, sniffs the same jug of milk and starts gagging. He is definitely more sensitive to "rotting" smells than I am - I just don't notice. I am more sensitive to perfume-y smells. It drove one of my roommates nuts because I couldn't stand the plug-in air freshener she had in her room and I was always closing her door - one day she screamed at me "how come you can't smell the rotting trash but my air freshener bothers you?!?!?!?"

I'm the same way! I can't stand artificial smells, perfumes, air fresheners, scented detergent, etc. However, I've totally been known to drink milk that's gone bad. The thing is, I seem to have a stronger stomach than my DH; I never, ever get sick from food issues. I'm the only person in my family who's never gotten sick traveling in Latin America, even when everyone else has been sick as a dog. I wonder if someone people naturally are as sensitive as they need to be for their own stomachs?

I always ask DH to smell things, not for me but because I don't want to feed the girls milk that's gone bad.