Can you eat expired Parmesan? Can you eat expired chocolate? What to expect from a damaged product
Some cooks believe that there is nothing wrong with mold on food, scientists do not always agree: there are expired products that can be hazardous to health. Some advise sniffing food so as not to throw it away ahead of time ...
Sniff rather than look at dates
It's amazing how a person could live before the advent of the expiration date label, which tells us by what date a certain product should be consumed. It turns out we can do without it. In the past, most of the time we relied on the smell of foods and then decided whether it was worth eating or not. Today, about half of the entire population relies only on labeling by the date on the packaging, and as a result, it is very common to throw away foods that are still safe to eat. According to the Waste Resources Action Program (WRAP), an organization that promotes sustainable development, about 4.2 tons of food is wasted in the UK every year, which, in addition to financial costs, has a strong impact on the environment.
Photo by Alamy, The Guardian
Either we buy too much, or we cook too much, or we forget to store leftovers properly. However, the biggest reason why we waste so much food is that we don't eat it on time, and in many cases we just look at the date on the packaging and not the contents, although this date can be completely ignored. In February 2016, a supermarket opened in Denmark that only sells expired products. In the UK, Approved Food, an online retailer, sells "short-lived" foods that are nearing their expiration date.
The problem is that there are too many date stamps and it's confusing. “Under European Union law, most products must be labeled “best before…(date)” or “best before…(date),” explains the head of the food poisoning control department at the Food Standards Agency (Food Standards Agency) Kevin Hargin(Kevin Hargin). Food companies decide for themselves what labeling and what expiration date to put on the packaging, and, as a rule, they do this together with their scientists. “All of this is done taking into account the condition and quality of the raw ingredients, the processing method, the length and nature of the supply chain, and the storage process, both in retail outlets and by consumers.”
“Using food before its expiration date indicates that it is safe to consume, and labeling with a “best before” recommendation indicates the state of the food’s quality,” says a Food Standards Agency spokesman. – The expiration date is usually used to label fresh and perishable foodstuffs, which can lead to poisoning if their expiration date has passed. Best Eating Recommendations are used for foods such as bread and pastries, which are unlikely to cause poisoning if eaten after the recommended date, although the quality of this product will be worse. The expiration date and recommended sales dates are indicated in order to help store employees with promotions.
In February 2016, a supermarket opened in Denmark that only sells expired products.
Not everyone panics at the sight of mold spots appearing on the packaging of tomatoes that have expired. You may very well be the one to take food out of the trash can and think it's "pretty good" when someone else in your family would have thrown it away. You may also still have a sticky 20-year-old Tabasco bottle or tin cans with an outdated brand in your home. It is quite possible that you never throw away the cheese, despite the fact that a significant part of its surface is covered with a green coating - you just cut it off.
Should I be worried about the dates on the packaging?
“The advice is: don’t eat expired foods,” says a microbiologist and senior lecturer in the Department of Food Safety at Bath Spa University. Ian Haysom(Iain Haysom). – This is necessary as some foods carry a higher risk of poisoning than others. So, for example, meat and fish are more likely to contain harmful pathogens, while lettuce or bean sprouts are less likely.” However, other factors can also greatly influence the poisoning, such as the working condition of the refrigerator, or how strongly your body reacts to the ingress of harmful bacteria. Some micro-organisms, such as E. coli or Salmonella, will not change the odor of the product. You can safely eat unopened cheese or yogurt that has expired. “But if you have children or sick people with you, then it is better to refrain from such a risk,” experts say. You can also extend the shelf life of certain foods by preparing them and leaving them in the refrigerator or freezing them.”
Photo by Alamy, The Guardian
If fruits and vegetables are dated, it is more likely to be a recommendation based on their expiration date rather than their expiration date, but this is only if they are sold raw, and not in the form of ready-made salads or cuts. This type of processed food, according to Hayes, is already cleaned and moistened, which creates a kind of breeding ground for any bacteria to live and grow. “I had tomatoes that were in the refrigerator for several weeks, and also apples that were stored in the refrigerator for months,” the microbiologist gives an example. The use recommendation label can be completely ignored if it is on cans or packages of dry pasta. “Expiry” will of course affect the loss of taste and quality, but this will not affect the state of health in any way. “A work colleague gave me a 1960s can of oatmeal; I opened it and everything was fine,” Haysom recalls.
Angela Hartnett, chef and restaurateur:
– At work, since visitors pay money, we use only the best products, and if there is something not quite of high quality, then we will not serve it on the table. However, at home, I'm not going to throw countless lettuce leaves in the bin. I had some pancetta left at home, and it already had some mold on it. And there was nothing wrong with that, because it's smoked, canned meat. If I think something is expired, I throw it away, but if I'm sure that everything is in order, I eat it calmly. I won't throw something away just because the recommended release date for the product has passed. If it's something vegan and slightly wilted, I'd rather cook it than throw it away. Although I confess that it is not so simple. I never know what to do with eggs - whether to keep them in the refrigerator, or at room temperature. But the eggs don't stay long enough in my house to worry about whether they're fresh or not. If I'm making pasta, I finish the leftovers the next day - I just add some water and heat it up.
Ruby Tandoh, food writer and chef:
There is a strong instinct for self-preservation in my family. We do not take unnecessary risks. My father campaigned all his life against licking batter from a mixing bowl: he saw salmonella and certain death in every drop of a raw egg. My sister gave us her Christmas candy because the due date had passed a month ago and one of the candies had taken the shape of a peanut. I, too, have inherited this expiration warning, which isn't really nice to admit if you work in the food world. If you work with food, it means that you are among all food, including raw, smelly and questionable manifestations of it.
The expiration date is commonly used for labeling fresh and perishable foods.
If the expiration date of the eggs has passed at least a day, this is a real torment for me: to find out if they are suitable for eating, I bring them to my ear and listen to the sounds inside them or immerse them in water to see if the egg sinks or not. If everything looks okay, then I cook them, but very carefully and deep frying. I want to be more rational in my food intake. I want to learn how to just scrape mold off food, cover my nose and eat. In testing recipes for my next book, I've already taken a few steps in that direction. A few wilted carrots on the bottom of a vegetable drawer can be a good ingredient for a salad with spicy carrots and chickpeas, rather than being relegated to a side dish or, worse, thrown into the trash can. I'm not so hopeless.
Tamal Ray, baker, G2 journalist, physician:
– I am quite liberal in relation to the labeling “better used before…”, but even I have a limit. Once I was visiting a girl who cooked a huge pot of beef bolognese. She forgot to put it in the refrigerator. And the bolognese stood in the corner of the stuffy kitchen for three days, until a thick layer of mold formed on the food. This girl came into the kitchen while I was making tea and remembered that she forgot to put away the pot. Right in front of me, she cleaned up all the mold and put the pot in the fridge. Not noticing my horror on her face, she invited me to try: “Do you want some?” I refused, I had a feeling of impending vomiting.
Photo by Tom Hoenig/Getty Images/Westend61
That's when I really pay attention to labels, and that's when I'm shopping for products. After that, when I'm already at home, I rely only on my feelings. If a product looks and smells good and I feel it is okay, I will eat it. One of my girlfriends has a completely different attitude: if the expiration date has passed, she throws it away. I well remember how she threw out a packaged, good-looking fish and a cardboard box of still-fresh grapes just because the marked date had passed. She argued that she was no longer a student and she no longer needed to eat from the bin. I couldn't do anything about it. I just hate throwing away food. Moreover, even if the date of the recommendation for consumption has passed, we can still eat many products. It just takes a little imagination. The stale edges of the bread can become crackers or croutons. Overripe fruit fruits are good for cocktails. The only thing to be careful with is the meat.
Thomasina Miers, chef and journalist at The Guardian:
– I check the food for smell and appearance, and if the food smells and looks bad, I throw it away. I found out that yogurt can be consumed for at least one more week after the expiration date. I don't leave raw meat for long periods of time, but I'm comfortable leaving leftover cooked food in the fridge for four to five days. I have kept onions in the fridge for several weeks. At my parents' house, we found a 10-year-old bottle of ketchup, and it was still usable. However, I am very careful with some products. The easiest way to poison raw chicken. Boiled rice is never stored in our refrigerator for more than one day, because harmful bacteria can grow there, but we can store fried rice in storage.
This text is a translation of the article Emin Sarner (Emine Saner) which is published in the newspaperThe Guardian". Access date: 03/20/2016The text is published for informational purposes and does not reflect the opinion of the editors.
British journalists thought about this problem: it turns out that the world economy is suffering from an excess of food waste. The thing is that a third of all products produced by the food industry is not sent to the stomach of the consumer, but to his garbage can.
Of course, we are talking only about the inhabitants of prosperous countries that do not lack food - America and Europe. These people do not throw away spoiled food, which would be quite natural, but fresh and edible. According to a study, it turned out that half of food purchases are sent for disposal on the same day. And this garbage in the aggregate makes up a crazy figure in monetary terms - 0 billion a year.
It turns out that some of the food products are produced in vain, because they are not used for their intended purpose. And that's a waste of production. In addition to economic factors, there is an environmental problem. Under the influence of overproduction, depleting water and land resources, the climate is changing. Unreasonably a lot of electricity is spent on food production. This leads to huge financial costs, as well as transportation services.
Britain itself was faced with food surpluses. Every year, food products with a total weight of 4.3 million tons remain unclaimed. Of these, 0.4 million tons. accounts for retail chains, and 3.9 million tons. - for large productions.
At the same time, the fact that unnecessary products are not used for charitable purposes is paradoxical. The needs of the poor and hungry account for only 2% of their total. Products weighing 3.7 million tons. sent straight to landfills or heat treated.
The signal to send the product from the refrigerator to the bucket is the end of the expiration date indicated on the package. However, this is not always correct. For example, if the eggs were stored correctly, they remain edible much longer even after the expiration date indicated on the package. And an egg is an indispensable and useful protein product for the human body, while at the same time quite affordable, as, in fact, chicken meat http://ooo-belok.ru.
Dan Cladray, who owns a store of expired and therefore inexpensive products, shared his thoughts with reporters.
He believes that food waste will be reduced if consumers understand the difference between three similar concepts: "use by date", "sell by date" and "best before date".
“Use before such and such a date” means that after it the product becomes unsafe for health. The indication "sell by such and such date" exists for internal use by store employees. The inscription “best before such and such a date” does not mean that the product becomes hazardous to health, but that it is up to this date that it will have optimal properties (the best taste, smell, texture, color, etc.).
By understanding the differences between the above terms, consumers are beginning to change their attitude towards expired food.
The financial crisis is forcing people to save money, including for food. Therefore, buying expired, but safe products no longer seems like something out of the ordinary. People are even proud of their ability to fit into the budget, despite the fact that they have less money than before.
So, you can eat expired:
1. Chips.
It's all about the salt. The product is practically preserved by it, therefore it is not subject to putrefaction and mold.
2. Chocolate
Here, instead of salt, sugar acts as a preservative. Accordingly, you can eat expired chocolate.
3. Ketchup and similar sauces and condiments
These products may be suitable for consumption for quite some time. Proper storage will extend their nutritional value. For this purpose, a refrigerator or a dry, cool place is suitable.
4. Yoghurt
The shelf life of this dairy product can be extended up to six days. The layer formed on the surface must be removed, and the mass under it should be eaten.
5. Hard cheeses
Cheese often arrives on the counter already spoiled with mold. For solid varieties, this is not scary. However, soft cheeses (camembert or brie) with such a problem are best not eaten.
6. Milk
Expired milk should not have a bad smell, especially when boiled. It should not have foreign flavors and sediment.
7. Eggs
This product is subjected to special testing before consumption. Drop the egg into a glass of water. If it floats, you can't eat it. Inside, there are probably pathogenic bacteria and gases from decomposition. If the egg sinks, it is good.
8. Bread
A stale loaf can be soaked and sent to the oven. After such a procedure, it will soften, undergo heat treatment and again become suitable for eating. The main thing is that it is not affected by mold.
9. Rice
This cereal differs in its shelf life - from several months to several years. During this time, rice can be eaten.
10. Vegetables and fruits
The absence of putrefactive and moldy lesions on the fruits indicates their edibility.
Every day around the world, people throw away tons of expired food. But it turns out that there are products that can be eaten after their expiration date. For example, the British edition of the Daily Mall announced a number of products that you obviously will not get poisoned, even if you use them a week after the expiration date. What are these products?
Research results
The competent British edition of the Daily Mall has published a list of products that can be consumed expired. The basis for this is numerous studies by experts from the UK Department of the Environment. So, these products are: cookies, pasta, cheese, chocolate, canned food, pickles, frozen, milk, eggs. But, please note that it is possible to use these products after their expiration date (indicated on the packaging) only under certain conditions - the products must be:
- Cheese only hard varieties;
- Cookies - low-fat and dry;
- Milk - pasteurized or ultra-pasteurized;
- Chicken eggs should be stored at a temperature not higher than plus 5 degrees;
- Expired canned food and pasta can be consumed only if the consumer packaging is intact;
- Pickles and sweets (honey, jam, chocolate) can be stored for a very long time, since salt and sugar are natural preservatives.
Indeed, can we follow the experience of foreign consumers? Will we become patients of the gastroenterology department after such experiments?
Product safety
It is necessary to ask about whether it is possible to use expired products not from sellers who want to sell this product to you, but from infectious disease doctors. Their task is to investigate the impact of pathogenic microorganisms, which are naturally formed in expired products, on the human body.
We can definitely say that expired eggs are strictly forbidden to eat. Otherwise, the risk of illness and hospitalization in the infectious diseases department of a medical institution in your city increases.
Microbiology of semi-finished products
Not a single microbiologist will give permission for the use of expired products. Why?
Take dumplings that have expired. Initially, this is a frozen semi-finished product that needs to be boiled and eaten - everything is very simple. But, according to doctors: no one can guarantee the consumer that the dumplings bought at the nearest store at a huge discount were not thawed beforehand. After all, dumplings are a product that must be stored at a certain temperature regime - no higher than minus 20 degrees Celsius.
Naturally, the consumer cannot control the storage conditions of the product from the place of production to the supermarket window. You can often observe the following picture: frozen semi-finished products are stored for a long time in the warehouse of intermediaries (sales representatives), who in 90% do not comply with the storage conditions recommended by the manufacturer.
Microbiology of hard cheese
Hard cheese is a perishable product. Of course, if we are dealing with cheeses containing noble mold in the composition (such cheese will not cost a penny), then such cheese can be consumed a year after its production. Ordinary hard cheese is exposed to pathogenic fungi, that is, the usual mold that is familiar to us. By the way, never buy cheese slices in stores. This is already obviously trimmed blue cheese, the expiration date of which has expired, but the seller still decided to make more money from the buyer. When buying cheese, look at its organoleptic characteristics: color, smell, structure. If you hear an unpleasant smell, see mucus on the product, weathered edges - do not risk your health, do not even think about buying such a product.
Remember that you can save on some of the food, but then, in case of poisoning, you will have to spend a much larger amount on treatment.
Microbiology of eggs
It is a mistake to believe that when you eat an expired chicken egg, you will only become infected. Do you know the smell of rotten eggs? And in them, surprisingly, there is no salmonella, but a bacterial infection.
Microbiology of chocolate
Regarding chocolate, you can be not so categorical consumer. The composition of dark chocolate (note - black, not milk) contains a large amount of natural preservatives. We are talking about cocoa butter, sugar, powdered sugar (look at the composition of the product before buying it).
If you saw a white coating on chocolate, then this means that during its storage the temperature conditions were violated: no more than plus 18 degrees Celsius and humidity 75%. In retail trade, such chocolate is prohibited by law, but it is possible to eat it. It will not adversely affect human health. Are you worried about your health? Then use chocolate as one of the baking ingredients.
Microbiology of canned food
Canned food is a product that is strictly forbidden to be eaten after the expiration date. Microbiologists consider expired canned food a real biological weapon. If you check canned food for a bacterial infection, then the result will be as follows - an increased rate of Enterobacter cloaca. It is this type of bacteria that provokes the strongest.
You should not think that if a can of canned food is not damaged, not swollen, but just has an expired shelf life, the risk of poisoning is 99%.
Conclusion
Expired products are dangerous to our health. Of course, you can use sour milk and dark chocolate as baking ingredients, but no more. The only thing that is allowed is to use biscuit cookies over their expiration date. All other products that you can buy in a store with huge discounts are dangerous.
Many people prefer to focus solely on the expiration date and throw away food if the date indicated on it has already passed. However, this question can be looked at in another way. Not all products really spoil when it is indicated on the packaging. In that case, they can still be eaten! If you understand these subtleties, you can save money. So, here are the foods you can eat after the expiration date. 
Milk
Milk can stay fresh for up to a week after the expiration date! Just use your sense of smell - make sure it doesn't smell too sour. If a sour smell is present, the milk should be discarded. If the smell is normal, you can drink without fear. Be careful, and then you will not have to pour out completely fresh milk in vain. 
hard cheese
Sometimes you just forget about a piece of cheese that got lost under the other food in the drawer. If it is a hard cheese, it can be eaten even for a month after the expiration date. This is true even for packages that have been opened for a long time. Hard cheeses do not spoil for a very long time, so you can enjoy the taste in peace. 
Mayonnaise
You may be surprised, but mayonnaise can be stored for a very, very long time. It does not spoil for three to four months after the expiration date if you bought it in a store and stored it at the right temperature. If you made homemade mayonnaise from raw eggs, it should be eaten within a few days - otherwise it will be spoiled. 
Meat
Fresh meat cannot be stored for more than a couple of days, but if it is frozen, it can be eaten up to a year later. Just keep your beef or chicken in the freezer if you bought a lot on sale. In this case, you will not be afraid for your health. 
Pork
If you have thoroughly fried pork, it can be eaten even a few days after cooking. This is a fairly safe product that is stored for a long time. 
Potato chips
The chips are highly processed so they can be eaten for months after the expiration date. Throw away chips only when they have a strange smell or unpleasant taste. In other cases, you should not worry, especially if the pack was closed - the chips are probably in perfect order. 
canned food
Have you ever thought about the canned food stocks that some people keep at home? Canned food does not spoil for years. Oxygen does not enter inside, so bacteria do not multiply. To keep canned food as long as possible, keep it in a dark and cool place. In this case, they will remain even after the expiration date. 
Eggs
Eggs stay fresh for up to a month after the expiration date. If you're unsure, there's an easy way to check: just dip an egg into a glass of water. If it sinks to the bottom, it can be eaten, and if it floats, it is better to throw it away, most likely, it has already begun to deteriorate. 
Bread
If you freeze bread, you can keep it past the expiration date. So it remains edible much longer than if you store it on the table. Frozen bread retains its texture after defrosting - you don't have to throw away stale slices anymore! 
Recycled cereal
Dry cereal is recycled, as are chips. They can be stored for up to six months after the expiration date, although the taste may change slightly. Just keep them packed as tightly as possible. Thanks to the large amount of sugar in them, they do not spoil at all if stored in a vacuum package! 
Water
Drinking water does not spoil. In many countries, legislation requires an expiration date on all products, but in fact, water cannot go bad if it is stored under a tight lid. Rather, a low-quality plastic bottle can deteriorate, but the liquid itself will be completely safe. 
Butter
This is surprising, but butter can be used even after the expiration date - it must be melted and can be used in baking. It is only important that the oil is stored in the package. 
Pasta
Pasta will keep for months after the expiration date. It is a dry product, so it does not spoil. If the pasta has a strange smell or musty taste, throw it away, if not, you can cook it. 
Carbonated drinks
There are a lot of chemicals in such drinks, so they do not spoil for a very long time. Scientists are sure that carbonated water can be stored even four months after the expiration date. 
Pickled foods
Anything stored in salt brine or vinegar can be used after the expiration date. 
lettuce
Greens and lettuce can lose their appetizing appearance if they have been stored in the refrigerator for a long time. However, sluggish lettuce leaves can be quickly revived in cold water. They will again appear juicy and bright. Throw away only leaves that appear spoiled.
Do you eat expired food? Your answer is obvious: of course not! But we dare to assure you, there is little objectivity in it. According to studies, the average Russian daily eats expired dairy products, meat, fish, cereals and chocolate. Products are already rotten in the home refrigerator. We store them incorrectly.
We all pay attention to the expiration dates of the goods and will not buy spoiled cheese, stale bread and stale sausage. But as soon as the purchased products enter the house, our vigilance disappears, as if they are not threatened with damage in the walls of our own refrigerator. We forget about the terms and rules of their storage, boldly eat a loaf, after cutting off the crust touched by mold from it. We eat sausages covered with a slippery coating, washing them under running water, use sour milk to make pancakes and do not think about the fact that these products can be dangerous to health.
Milk is the most dangerous food!
Every housewife knows that milk spoils quickly. Many people think that sour milk can be used for food, that it is even good for health. In fact, milk is an ideal nutrient medium not only for lacto and bifidobacteria, "responsible" for the formation of nutritious yogurt, various microbes multiply rapidly in milk, including E. coli, staphylococci, which can cause toxic infection and dysbacteriosis.
The shelf life of pasteurized milk is 3 days. If it is not used during this time, pour it into a jar and ferment it with kefir, sour cream or another fermented milk product containing beneficial lactic acid bacteria.
Fermented milk products should be used within 36 hours, sour cream within 3 days, cottage cheese and products made from it within 36 hours, they can become a breeding ground for pathogenic microbes.
poisonous oil
It would seem that what could be dangerous in oil, especially if it is stored in the refrigerator? It turns out that oil can cause poisoning and it’s not at all about harmful microbes. All fats over time, and especially in the light, undergo oxidation with the formation of toxic compounds. These changes are familiar to every housewife; when oxidized, butter becomes covered with a yellow coating, as experts say, with shtaff and acquires a rancid taste. The changes that occur in expired vegetable oil are not so noticeable, but this does not make them less dangerous for humans, leading to atherosclerosis, cancer and premature aging.
The shelf life of packaged butter is 10 days, and vegetable oil can be stored for only 4 months, and even then in the refrigerator.
Meat and fish with odor
Expired products are dangerous not only for infection! How to get poisoned by fresh meat or fish? Rinse under running water to wash away store-bought germs and refrigerate! Cleanly washed meat will let out juice, which serves as a breeding ground for pathogenic microbes, and in a day or two you will have a product teeming with bacteria. Salmonellosis, dysentery, food poisoning, intoxication - the cause of these diseases can be expired meat, and it looks quite fresh.
Fresh meat can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 72 hours, fish - 48 hours. The shelf life of meat and fish semi-finished products is even shorter - an average of 12-24 hours.
Meat products that are repeatedly thawed are of particular danger.. After all, many bacteria do not die at low temperatures, and defrosting, over and over again, leads to their accumulation.
If you bought frozen fish, and there is a lot of ice in the package, it is highly likely that the product was stored in violation of the temperature regime. In such fish, histamines accumulate - substances responsible for the development of allergic reactions.
Candy with a worm
Have you ever bought gray-covered chocolate? The appearance of a white coating indicates a violation of the rules and terms of storage of the product. In the sweets stale on store shelves, chocolate moth starts up. Moth larvae are so small that they quietly gnaw through packages and infect wrapped products. It is safe for health, but the prospect of eating candy with a worm is unlikely to please anyone.
When buying packaged products in a store, do not flatter yourself, the packing date is affixed to the store packaging, and only God, or the seller, knows when the sweets were produced.
Deadly canned food
Expired meat, fish, and especially canned vegetables and mushrooms can cause botulism- a deadly human disease. Of course, it’s quite difficult to get poisoned with store-bought stew, even if it has already outlived its time, but homemade mushrooms, prefabricated hodgepodges may well become a haven for clostridia that produce botulinum toxin, which affects the nervous system and leads to respiratory arrest.
Eating expired and improperly stored foods is fraught not only with acute poisoning. You may not notice a deterioration in health after eating expired stew, but it’s hard to say how shortened your life path is. It's like with smoking, no one dies from one cigarette, and lung cancer develops gradually. So expired beer, bottled in plastic bottles, can be quite digestible in taste and color, but toxic products accumulated in it can cause a severe hangover, and with regular use, they strike a blow to the liver and kidneys.
The oxidation of containers, the processes that occur during the interaction of the product with the packaging - all this is taken into account by the manufacturer when determining the optimal shelf life, it is not recommended to ignore them, even if the product looks to be of good quality.
Be vigilant, buy only fresh products and follow the rules and terms of their storage!
