We go through a lot of food here in the US; some 815 billion calories per day. Unfortunately, about 200 billion of those calories of food are wasted. That’s something like 200,000 tons of food; enough to feed 80 million people. But why is this so? Are we just a wasteful society, as some say, or is there something behind all this waste?
Some estimates say that as much as 40% of the food in this country is wasted, thrown away because it is supposedly bad. Food is wasted in every step of the process, from the farms that grow it and fishing boats which catch it, to the packing houses that prepare our food and the distribution system that gets that food to market.
One part of this massive waste of food comes from the food service industry. Restaurants are tightly regulated in what they can do with leftover food. They can’t, for example, serve the mashed potatoes you didn’t eat to someone else. That food must be disposed of, as a hygienic measure in an effort to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Likewise, food that is not used must be disposed of, once it has gone past its expiration date.
The only way for restaurants to prevent those problems is to make only the exact amount of food that will be consumed. That requires a level of prognostication that is unrealistic to meet.
While restaurants don’t want to throw any food away, as that comes out of the bottom line, they also don’t want to run out of food and lose the income from patrons who decide to go elsewhere.
Restaurants only account for a minor portion of the food wasted in this country; the majority of it is wasted in households; some 76 billion pounds of food per year. This is 40 to 50 percent of the total food waste in our country.
Related: The 10 Best Prepper Foods You Can Find At Costco
Why Does This Happen?
There are a number of reasons. But one man, Scott Nash, the owner of the 19 grocery stores comprising Mom’s Organic Market, decided to do an experiment.
This experiment started out by accident. Nash had been visiting his cabin, when he wanted a smoothie. Looking in the refrigerator, he found some yogurt that he had left there six months earlier. Even though it was six months beyond the “expiration date”, the yogurt looked and smelled good, so he used it to make himself a smoothie. The smoothie was fine and he didn’t’ suffer any problems from consuming that “old” yogurt.
T
his led Scott to start an ongoing experiment, where he decided to ignore the expiration dates on food, as long as it looked good to eat.
Through the following year, 365 days, he ate canned goods that were beyond their use by date, old milk and eggs. He even ate lunchmeat that was two or three months past its expiration date and beef that was a couple of weeks past its drop dead date.
In all of this, Scott never had a single problem caused by eating supposedly expired food.
How Can This Be?
This experiment has led Mr. Nash to the conclusion that the supposed expiration dates on our food are largely arbitrary, created by the processing plants and packagers partially to protect themselves from liability and partially in an effort at planned obsolescence. It is only the last date that they will guarantee the food’s suitability for consumption.
Adding that date to packages of food cause people to throw away perfectly good food, just because they haven’t used it yet. A 2016 survey found that 84% of consumers admit to throwing good food away, because it had gone past the date stamped on the label.
Some foods, such as canned goods, really have no expiration date. Canning is one of the best means of food preservation there is. The food is contained in an impermeable sealed container, from which all bacteria has either been removed or killed. Insects and rodents, the other two big food spoilers can’t eat through the container, so there is nothing to make the food go bad.
Related: Canning Amish Poor Man’s Steak
Yet canned goods are all stamped with an expiration date, giving the consumer a year at best to use it, or at least that’s the way that it appears to the average consumer. In fact, those dates we all take as expiration dates really aren’t that at all. Rather, manufacturers stamp a “best by” date on their products, encouraging us to use them quickly. But there is nothing that says that food will go bad on or even near that date. Most foods will last well beyond it.
Scott Nash’s experiment has led him on a crusade to educate people about these phony dates. It’s not that he has anything against expiration dates. It’s just that he doesn’t like fake ones. He’d like to see the current system revamped, providing expiration dates that actually mean something. In the mean time, he continues eating food that has gone beyond the manufacturer’s “best by” date and encourages others to do the same.
In reality, there have been canned foods which were opened after 60 or 80 years and have been found to still be perfectly edible. Those are the most extreme examples out there. We can’t expect milk and eggs to stay good for years after the expiration date; but it helps to know that the date they put on the package is at least a week before those foods will even start to go bad.
The same can be said for beef in our grocer’s meat department. Beef will discolor fairly quickly, if left in the cooler case too long. But that doesn’t affect the quality of the beef, only its appearance. It is still perfectly edible. I personally buy a lot of beef that way, because the butcher marks the price down.
Can Food Go Bad?
Absolutely. But we can’t count on those dates to tell us when it does. Rather, we need to use our senses to see what condition the food is in. If it looks good and smells good, it probably is good. But if it looks and smells bad, it may not be worth eating.
Take the two cans pictured below. These came from my personal food stockpile and both of them clearly have gone bad. We can tell that because the mold or bacteria which has grown on the food is visible from the outside of the can.
How could this happen with canned foods, the same foods I was touting earlier as being preserved in an almost perfect way? It’s hard to see from the angle I took these pictures, but both of these are cans of fruit, acidic fruit to be specific. That played a part in the process.
Related: How to Make Fruit Leather and Add It To Your Stockpiles
Cans for acidic foods are manufactured with a thin film on the inside, coating the metal and keeping the acid from coming into contact with it. (This may be true of other canned foods as well, but the only ones I have personally checked are for acidic foods.) That film is very thin and could possibly become damaged during the manufacturing process or at the cannery. If that happens, the acid in the food would have access to the metal, eating away at it and making a hole in the can.
Once that happens, the can has lost its integrity and bacteria can get into it. This is why we are told to make sure that the can lid isn’t puffed up, before opening it. Of course, in the two examples I encountered above, the damage is obvious without looking for a puffy lid, so it’s clear that the food is not safe to consume.
What this means is that we have a fail-safe built into the system. As long as the can is intact, it is safe for use. It doesn’t matter what the expiration date says. Just watch out for that convex lid and make sure the can doesn’t have any strange growths on the outside, like the ones I found in my pantry.
So, what about you? Have you ever tried what Scott Nash has and eaten food, knowing it was past the supposed “expiration date”? How long would it have to be beyond that point before you wouldn’t eat it? How does that affect your survival strategy?
You may also like:
Sealed Foods that Last Forever
The U.S. Army’s Forgotten Food Miracle (Video)
What Foods Can You Bury Underground For Winter?
7 Super Cheap Foods To Stockpile That People Usually Throw Away
Libby’s Sausage Gravy. Several cans one year past the expiration date. Tasted good, no ill effect. If it smells good, looks good it’s probably still good.
True. I ate food even 2 years back. As you stated if it looks good smells good no funny taste then its OK. Remember how many people eat food from trash piles.j
Here’s a remedy for food poisoning.
Mix pectin or jello. Use 1/2 water called for.
Let cool , drink warm
It absorbs the poison.
Egg whites well beaten in a little mild works too.
I prefer the pectin or jello.
This saved my husband’s life about 49 years ago.
Had it not been for the pertinent /jello, he would have died.
I keep some on hand always.
Thank you, Emma. This is valuable info.
FACTS ARE FACTS THERE IS NO BETTER PROOF OF SURVIVAL WHEN THOUSANDS OF HOMELESS PEOPLE AREOUND THE WORLD EAT OUT OF GARBAGE CANS, GOD IS THE ONE THAT PURE BELIEVE IS WHAT MAKES A MEAL GOOD OR EVIL
THAT IS WHY HOMELESS PEOPLE DO NOT STOP AND ASK WHEN WAS THE FOOD PUT IN THE GARBAGE AND WHY THEY JUST EAT BELIEVING THAT, THE FOOD IS GOOD BECAUSE GOD ALREADY BLESSED IT
YPI CAN GO TO THE BEST RESTAURANT IN TOWN OR CITY AND GET SEREVED THE BEST THEY GOT, IF YOU EAT THAT FOOD WITH DISTRUST, THAT IN ITSELF WILL GET YOU SICK BECAUSE YOU DO NOT BELIEVE THE FOOD DO LOOKS GOOD AND FROM A REPUTABLE RESTAURANT YET YOU WILL GET SICK BECAUSE YOU ATE IT WITH DISTRUST PERIOD.
We often consume foods beyond their ‘best before’ date. I use my eyes and nose to check if it’s ok and cook it well. I’ve bought dairy products that were off well before their use by date, same with luncheon meats from the deli. Dates are no guarantee it will be edible, JUST a guide to protect manufacturers and processors.
Some medicines are about the only thing I am fairly strict about following. YMMV
There companies that purchase expired meds from pharmacies. These meds are then sold out of the US as perfectly good meds. They’re still good, just like the food products discussed here!
Most are. There are a few to be careful about though, tetracyclines are 1 of them.
Some just lose their affectiveness, like aspirin that might smell like vinegar when it’s old isn’t anywhere near as good, some prescriptions degrade too. Many OTCs are fine and as you say, will still work past the use by date.
You are a nutjob, God gave you a sense of smell to decide if food is still good.
Silver, that is simply not how nature or science works. Fairly certain God doesn’t work that way either.
I write the expiration or use by dates on the top of the cans with a black marker. I do so only to insure I use the oldest first even though it may be 3 or 4 years after the expiration date. While in the army I had C rations that were no less than 5 years old.
i suspect the same can be said about prescription and over the counter meds.
MAYBE.
Some medicines DO expire.
Their chemistry precludes eternity.
Antibiotics come to mind.
If the meds have. become powdery or discolored, do not use. Store in cool dry place in dark container.
We live on a very limited income. SS.
I buy sale items, use store savings cards, points & have used “expired” food for years.
Even when we were working .
Common sense & if it passes the smell test, it’s probably just fine.
As for meds, I have meds that some are prob ten yrs old. If properly kept, prob safe to use.
Timely article. Thank you.
Yes, expired medications are sent to other (second and third world) countries to treat their diseases.
…as if third world humans are not like us humans too
Joe, YOU are VERY much like third worlders. The rest of us are humans.
Willie: You live in a wannabe 3rd world nation, America. You telling us you’re not human? I disagree, just as much as I disagree with you mocking Joe and anyone in a 3rd world nation. Man up! 3rd world it’s root hog, or die. No one hands out welfare checks and grub stubs in a 3rd world nation. No one has free medical care and most would laugh at the idea. Most people in 3rd world nations think Americans are nutty for paying people to not work. From out-of-diapers right to the day you die you’re expected to have a job to support your family. Those are the survivalists, and those are the ones who teach it as a tradition to children–who respect their parents and obey the grandparents. We used to be like that, till the mockers came along.
One has to bear in mind, however, that there are people here in the United States who are physically and/or mentally disabled, or who have severe enough developmental/intellectual disabilities that preclude them from getting any type of job, and have no choice but to be paid not to work.
Also, there are people who are going through some sort of a crisis (i. e. divorce, illness, loss of a job, etc.) who need a leg up until they’re able to get back onto their feet.
You are a Compassionate and Understanding Human Being. i Like, OLE!
Joe: Not to the liberals, they’re not. I could buy meds in Mexico with a ‘script for a lot less than in the US. Liberals like wild willie need to understand that to the dems, he’s a 3rd world candidate. niio, walk in beauty
I stashed food in advance of Y2K. Big on my list was tuna. I dehydrated. Veggies and one time found eggs on sale and put up several quarts of pickled eggs.
Ten years later, I was still eating tuna and of the whole batch, only one can became puffy and had to be thrown out. The veggies were tasteless and got thrown out. They were probably safe but I just didn’t want to eat them. I still have the eggs ..can’t decide how I could tell if they are safe. I have eaten eggs that have been in the fridge over six months. I think fresh eggs would be obvious if bad. If milk is just sour, it can be sweetened and a little vanilla added to make a good drink. I stopped refrigerating mayo a long time ago. If it is bad, it will smell rancid. I go by smell with meat. If it is really really bad, the texture will be mushy.
Meat with freezer burn does not taste good but can be used to make soup or flavor veggies but the meat will not taste good to eat. I use expired amoxicillin on my pets. It works great for treating cat abcesses. One of my dogs got an eye infection, the vet was talking about removing his eye. I took him home and saved his eye with my expired amoxicillin. I could go on and on.Generally, if it looks ok and smells ok, I will try it. I bought a 10oz sirloin steak last week for $2.50. Tasted great!
dave in Houston,
Some medications like tetracycline can become toxic (to the kidneys) beyond the expiration date and other simply become weak and less effective.
For medications you really need to check before using old ones.
Worked at a military warehouse that shipped medication’s to different hospitals. When the expiration date ran out they were turned over to a company that repackaged them and eather send them to be used in third world country or to be used in Livestock or pet medications.
in PA they have a gimmick–dump all your old meds or return them to a collection site—to stop overdoses or addiction—‘SUPPOSEDLY’..nope–another gimmick ..as you then must go and buy more…win win for big pharma and their underlings at THE DRUG STORES..
Michael Javick,
That’s not just PA. It’s also Ohio and I think nationally and is not a scam; but, a sincere attempt by health departments to at least get excess narcotics off the street.
Personally I have a good supply of the medications I use, and do occasionally take expired one I no longer use, and discard them; but, only after checking to see if they are viable long term, in which case I keep them.
Personally I don’t understand addiction; but, think there is some kind of metabolic difference in people who suffer from it, since it’s been around forever with alcohol and other drugs.
As for antibiotics, I keep a legal supply and know their shelf life and their use, something important so they don’t get overused and become ineffective.
The one medicine that I know one can detect if it is past its use by date is aspirin. If you open that bottle of aspirin that is way in the back of the wall closet in your bathroom and the acidic smell is overpowering, toss the aspirin. It is well past its effective date. The least bad thing that will happen to you is a serious case of heartburn.
It won’t be a case of, “I wonder if this is still good?” You will know immediately.
Especially products for use in your eyes. Respect the exp. Date
Funny I am doing just that now.
But we made really old macaroni and cheese from the Bix and although the pasta was good the cheese was nasty as all heck.
Gave that to the dog but I look for bent lids on the can goods for the kids.
So far they all look good and I keep my foods by the AC vent so it’s always set to a constant temp.
Cool dry place and it should not go bad but just don’t try it with powdered Mac and cheese
Manny,
The problem with your Mac & Cheese powder is that it contains oils that can go rancid or separate with time.
The worst thing that can happen with the pasta if it doesn’t contain bugs, is it could be a bit stale.
Depending on what bugs are in the pasta I might just boil it up and eat it anyway. As mom would say “free protein”.
While at scout camp in 1976, our kitchen was supplied with a one gallon can of Army ration peanut butter. It was canned in 1945. The oil had separated and risen to the top, but all we had to do was mix it back in. That one can provided 20 boys with PB&J lunch sandwiches for two weeks with no problems. I was 13 years old eating peanut butter that was 31 years old. We had scoutmasters who had served in Europe and the Pacific in 1945 telling war stories while mixing oil back into a 31 year old can of peanut butter. Thank you Mr. Schuster, Mr. Kling, Mr. Golan and Mr. Hartman.
This old Eagle Scout remembers those Good Ol’ Days too.
I remember eating C & K rations that those WWII/Korea, Veteran/Scoutmasters used to bring along to the campouts and tell about how this is all they would get to eat for weeks.
That was back when the Boy Scouts were a respectable organization. It sure is in sad shape now!
Slightly off topic, but it is interesting that 20 boys were able to scarff down pb&j for two weeks, demolishing one gallon of pb and nobody had an anaphylactic fit. I went to three different grade schools and I don’t ever remember someone being allergic to pb. I wonder why so many children today go into hissies if there is even a peanut anywhere on the plane? What is different from days of yesteryear and today? Other readers of this list who are senior, although not nearly so old as I have also mentioned that they don’t remember the widespread allergic reaction to bp when they were young either. Pb&j was food for the gods when I was a tad.
I’m just a bit younger than you, but as a kid in the 70’s and 80’s I never heard of any food allergies except strawberries and shellfish, and those were exceptionally rare.
My suspicion is that the explosion in allergies is a direct result of GMO tinkering with the DNA of not only peanuts but wheat, dairy cows and egg chickens. Either that or human DNA has been somehow altered without our knowledge or consent.
I think most people with food allergies don’t really have food allergies. For some weird reason a food allergy has now become a kind of status symbol. If one of your dinner guests has an allergy and needs something cooked just for them, in their mind that makes them special. In my wife’s mind it makes them a pain in the ass, and I tend to agree with her. There are some people with genuine allergies, but not many.
As a child I got migraines that incapacitated me to bed with nausea and bright light sensitivity. In my 20’s I figured out sensitive to PB and nitrates in preserved meats. Then after undergoing surgery, the drugs used made me allergic to milk products and a dough conditioner in bread that acts like milk on me.
Claude: As a child, I had serious hay fever. when I got into poison ivy/oak, it became infected each time. Much later, I discovered it’s genetic, from gluten. No gluten and most things no longer bother me. Dairy is another no-no. Most of the world cannot digest too much of it. I miss a lot of dinners because I do NOT want to be a pain, anywhere! 🙂 When folks come here, everything is gluten free, but we get- or make cheese for guests who can eat it.Most around here are Native American and mixed-bloods, as well as old folk who can’t have dairy, anyway. niio
Ummmmm yeah well, I have a lifelong allergy to bananas. It’s the latex in the bananas. It’s almost killed me twice. Once when my wife brought home friend chicken that had been friend in plantain oil. I was 55 years old when that happened and it took five epi pens to bring me back, the final three administered in the hospital. The first one was as a child the first time I ate bananas …. I don’t remember that one, I was a baby in the 50s. The first one I remember was at a ballgame when I bought a fruit smoothie …. strawberry and blueberry, NOT banana. Unbeknownst to my wife and me the place had used the same container to make a banana and peanut butter smoothie before mine and they did not clean the container between mixes …. and it was enough to put me down into anaphylactic shock before we made it back to our seats. I don’t remember much about that one either, so yeah, there are genuine allergies.
Miss Kitty,
GMO Dairy cows?
I think like EMP, GMO has become the bogy man since it’s easier to blame these things than our sedentary lifestyle, or the ramifications of modern medicine or unhealthy diets.
A 15 year old farm kid in the 1800’s got an infection that killed him; but, that same 15 year old today takes an antibiotic and lives into his 70’s, where he develops and dies from cancer. We need to have some perspective here.
It no doubt has been modified. We live in a world where our DNA is assaulted by radiation, chemicals, and even old age, and inadvertently by modern medicine.
The DNA helix contains 3 billion base pairs, each of which may be thought of as an instruction in the computer code that makes each of us. Changing one of these base pairs can do one of 3 things:
1. Nothing
2. Change a benign feature like eye color
3. Change a required feature causing canccer or other organ failures resulting in diabetes or other ailments.
Keep in mind that replication errors also occur normally and that our current generation is significantly changed from our ancestors from just a few generation back.
With all the genetic tinkering that’s been going on, why NOT genetically modified cows? We know that through selective breeding techniques that dairy cows are bred for higher milk yields, the need for less food and water, etc… so again, why not some scientists in a lab somewhere doing genetic manipulation to make cows that can eat pesticide laden grasses without getting sick? Or cows that laugh at mad cow disease? And who really knows how such hypothetical modifications would behave on a molecular level? Theoretically, it could cause alterations to the protein structure of milk and meat and make them more difficult for humans to digest.
I wouldn’t discount the possibility, but I’m not obsessing over it either. It would explain why so many people are allergic to dairy and other products though.
I tend to agree with you, Miss Kitty. Never heard anything about food allergies when I was a child and as you say if it did crop up it was EXTREMELY rare. Not only the a-holes messing around with GMO’s (we aren’t at the stage yet where we know what we’re doing with genetics) but also all the crap they’re dusting our crops with in the name of all-mighty buck. Things like roundup and all the associated pesticides and herbicides we’re being poisoned with. Apparently a link has been established between the use of Neonicotinoids and honey bee CCD. Is it any wonder cancer rates keep going up and now more and more people seem to be developing strange food allergies? Someone didn’t quite think this through. Or did they? Have to reduce the population somehow. Say, here’s a thought. Why don’t we poison their food, water and the air they breathe? If it doesn’t outright kill them then it will surely mess them up. And if it doesn’t kill them then it helps big Pharma and the cancer industry scam. So no matter which way it goes the people in power win regardless and us the expendable “pawns” get screwed over once again.
left coast chuck,
For perspective, I attended my 50 year high school reunion last month and K- through 12 attended 4 different buildings (all now razed and gone); but, I also recall no problems with other than minor allergies like hay fever, and certainly no Anaphylactic shock. This was a time when PB&J or Bologna sandwiches, wrapped in wax paper were the staple lunch for many kids, including me.
One thing we know for sure about some allergies and especially for immune health in general, is our incessant need for cleanliness. While it’s good to wash our hands after using the toilet or before eating food, the constant almost phobic obsession with germs, especially in young children is known to have detrimental effects. This germophobia actually has a clinical name of Mysophobia and is a known pathological fear of contamination, where people continuously wash their hands or use that nasty skin drying alcohol based hand sanitizer.
When we fail to introduce babies, toddlers, and young children to environmental pathogens, it’s as though they live in a plastic bubble and their bodies have no chance to interact with pathogens and create antibodies against them, often leaving the immune system to attack other benign things like foods or other body parts, presenting as Arthritis, Lupus, IBD, type 1 diabetes, psoriasis, and others.
I am quite lucky in that I have no known allergies.
Ohio: That could well be a contributing cause. There is a theory about polio that the epidemics of the late 40s and 50s were caused by chlorine being added to city water. Not that the chlorine caused the epidemics directly, but by eliminating pathogens from city water it made children and young adults more susceptible to diseases that before then they had developed natural resistance to.
After WWII, there was a double whammy as it were. More people moved from the farms with their untreated well water and more cities upgraded their water purification plants to higher standards developed during WWII. This non-exposure led to reduced immunity.
That certainly goes along with your proposition that with the almost fanatical emphasis on cleanliness these days we are actually creating the opposite effect. It’s an interesting theory. As much as I can remember from my childhood the only time I washed my hand was just before lunch and just before dinner and during the school year, the washing before lunch was bypassed in order to get outside quicker for the games we played.
I think the theory then was if they didn’t look dirty, they weren’t. I know when my mother told me to go wash my hands before a meal it was because they were visibly dirty. I am positive I never washed my hands after using the toilet. This was especially true if we relieved ourselves while we were out in the woods as we frequently were.
As a matter of fact, part of the medical profession’s resistance to Lister’s theory about germs was that because doctors were professional men their hands were naturally clean and didn’t need any additional applications of soap and water or other cleansing agents. It was only the working trades that got their hands dirty.
I am 77 years old, still passing the D.O.T. physical which means I can and do still drive 18 wheelers. Eat expired dated foods, and leave food in refrigerator over 3 days and eat it. Have NO health issues. And handle all kinds of stuff without gloves, do not wash my hands every time I do, except for actual reasons (toilet, garbage, toxic items). Have believed for years that all this “sanitation” is very overrated.
God bless! A little dirt is good for you. that’s how we develop immunity. But, being a trucker, you eat expired food at every stop. I worked in a few truck stops and know. One 4-star restaurant (not a truck stop) used to get the cheapest everything it could. One load of spinach leaves were turning to slime, but we had to pick out any good leaves for salad, and the rest went into cream of spinach soup. But, as well, this is how Ebola spreads and other pandemics, a lack of sanitation. Too much sanitation is bad! I will not use antibacterial soaps because it kills the good bacteria and now a lot of the bad. Antibiotics, the same, leaving us open to fungal and viral infections because the good bugs eat the bad ones. A younger sister would take her kids to the doctor at first sign of a sniffle. She and her kids have health issues today no one else in the family does. Same with their teeth, and now hers have gotten so bad she needed reconstruction on her jaw and has no teeth. Mine get brushed and once every few years I see a dentist, and I still have most of mine. niio
Red,
I think we’re confusing sanitation with over germophobia.
Properly treating waste is good sanitation, as is cleaning your bathroom every week or so, sweeping your floors on occasion and proper disposal of trash where it doesn’t attract flies, mice, cockroaches, or other vermin.
Cleaning everything daily with chlorine bleach OTOH is probably a bit over the top.
I don’t use them, or especially the alcohol based hand sanitizer since they dry out the skin and makes it more susceptible to problems.
Thorough hand washing with plain soap will wash off any bacteria and viruses quite well.
Antibiotics have their place; but, have all to often been misused, since some doctors will give a whining patient an antibiotic they know will be ineffective, just to shut them up. Doctors should be the guardians of good health; but, it also takes patients who are serious about helping themselves.
I have a good friend who is an E.R. physician who met another doctor when doing her clinical and internship. That doc was older and had been a primary care doctor who was tired of dealing with some of his patients. He told her that the generic ”Mrs. Jones would come to her appointment, with her blood sugar still high having and gained 5 more pounds since her last visit, swearing that she was following all of the instructions he had given her. When he said he was glad to see her, he realized he was lying, and decided to change specialties to help people in the E.R. where he might do more good.
Ultimately, our health is in our own hands; but, only if we take things seriously.
I see a dentist yearly; but, do get your point. Once again we are only as healthy as we want to be and are willing to do something about. Health has to be a personal choice that may take some effort.
Too much sanitation: Abusing your body with too much cleanliness, too much meds, worrying over a little dirt. I’m not talking of keeping the house clean. Soap and water work just fine and there’s no need to terrorize people to sell them things like antibacterial soaps, which allow a lot of bacteria to develop immunity to them. For centuries, people used brass and silver for dishes and eating utensils because they work. The wealthy used gold, and the poor used earthenware and wood, and both died like flies in every pandemic.
A thorough washing with plain soap takes care of most problems. Viral infections can slip into the skin or be breathed in. same with fungal infections. A lot of people gave up shaking hands and now use the bump, which stops a lot of infections from spreading while the people remain polite.
Whining patients: You said it! A younger sister was one. Every time one of her kids had the sniffles, she ran them to the doctor. A doctor in PA had so many elderly coming to see him, mostly people who wanted to visit with friends and complain over aging, he started to prescribe placebos. Back then, SS paid for each office visit.
I haven’t seen a dentist in years, but the teeth are in fair shape. But then, I try to stay away from carbs, as well, which cause tooth decay, and anything like opium-based meds which damage teeth.
Old Lady Trucker,
Proper sanitation is what makes us a modern civilization; free from the ravages of diseases like cholera; but, being to fastidious and having germophobia, which is a a pathological fear of contamination and germs has to be both mentally and physically unhealthy.
Living in a germ free bubble doesn’t allow our immune system to learn how to fend off common bacteria, and IMHO makes us more susceptible to disease in ngeneral. I get my yearly influenza vaccination and have had the recommended 2 pneumonia vaccines, and cannot remember when I last had the flu.
I believe all this allergy to pb and gluten etc is from the pesticides/herbicides etc used on the crops. Didn’t use them way back then… Also this current allergy to lactose in milk…never heard of them in years gone by. Another factor may be that everyone is so antibacterial now LOL. Back then we played in the dirt and mud and I’m still a tough old bird!!!
Artist: No, it’s genetic. Most people in the world can’t handle dairy too well. there are only a few groups that can digest it. Diabetes was called the richman’s disease because only the wealthy could afford wheat. Ever since the French developed high-gluten wheat diabetes has been going thru the roof along with other problems. niio
I haven’t seen the dreaded word “vaccinations” in this thread as a cause for allergies & food intolerances & illnesses – that’s the corelation in all this – from the early 80’s on the formulas changed drastically & look at what’s happened since !
Fos,
What’s happened both since and prior is the near elimination of deadly diseases like Smallpox, Polio, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Measles, Tetanus, Chicken Pox, and many influenza and pneumonia strains.
The recent resurgence of measles in some areas are the direct result of ignorant anti vaxxers, identified by the World Health Organization as one of the top ten global health threats of 2019.
Red,
I agree that it genetic, and has a lot to do with where you’re ancestors were from.
By dairy you mean cattle, since often those who cannot handle cow’s milk, are good with goats.
I am not allergic to anything; but, my wife is lactose in tolerant as is my daughter who is also allergic to soy protein.
There is some truth to this; but, part of it is the availability of all kinds of foods, genetic programming and lack of will power.
Our hunter gatherer ancestors learn to like and gorge on fats and sugars, since these calorie dense foods could keep one alive, long after the food ran out, by layering a bit of fat on the body. Back then those foods were scarce and limited to killing a large animal or finding fruits or a beehive to rob; but, that genetic predisposition helped keep us alive in lean times. In the modern era we unfortunately still have those genetic predispositions for fat, sugar, and maybe salt; but, since they are no longer rare; but, in abundance, those with no will power eat too much and we now find obesity a big problem.
As is obvious, I like to go off topic also, so I’ll do that with you today, Chuck. Very good question, Chuck. What IS different from today as compared to yesteryear? One of the first things that comes to mind is that even though we are living longer these days I don’t think that for the most part we’re living healthier. Could it be that with all the things they’ve been dosing the crops with, has it compromised our immune systems over the years? We were very poor growing up. My parents worked insane hours trying to make ends meet. We never had a lot of food but my mum tried to make sure we had enough veggies in our diet. Just plain, simple good food. I made sure to eat what was put in front of me. Complaining about the food never occurred to me. I would never dare. There was no need. There was no waste. I was taught to clean my plate. Wasting food was almost a sin. Every once in a while my school would hold a kid’s night. We were all poor and skinny at that point. One time my mum took me to one of these kid’s nights and they were serving up peanut butter on whole wheat. I thought I had died and gone to heaven it was so good. We couldn’t afford peanut butter. Never heard anything about any kind of peanut allergies. Did hear about epileptic fits but never encountered them personally. But not food allergies. That’s more than likely our immune systems responding to the poisons in our food.
Armin,
I would agree and it is in large part due to the wealth and abundance of everything in our country.
Growing up, my mom cooked mostly from scratch and while we never went hungry, quite often there were no leftovers. We ate a mix of meats, vegetables, and fruits, and eating out at a restaurant was pretty much unheard of.
The local dairy, a few 5 & dime stores, and pharmacies, had lunch counters; but, MacDonald’s and other fast food venues were not yet found on every street corner. A big treat for us was the rare TV dinner or a frozen pot pie.
We ate healthy and since TV was only black & white with a few channels, we kids would spend more time outside exercising than sitting around the tube.
Game playing was a group effort involving a deck of cards or a board and dice.
I don’t think so; but, that’s a good scapegoat for people to blame instead of admitting we do unhealthy things and often lack the will power to change.
Back in 2006 I hit the scales @ 235 pounds, which for a 5’ 6” guy is, well, fat!!!.
I pictured me looking like people I knew who were just round balls with tiny little stumps of legs under them and who were already using CPAP machines in their 30’s and decided to do something about it.
I decided to count calories, limiting my daily intake of food to 1200-1600 for a target weight of 170 pounds. I counted everything, including snacks like peanuts, and tracked things daily in a spreadsheet and within 6 months, I had dropped to 172 pounds. I now weigh in at around 145 and for some reason, I have none of the aches and pains I here others talk about. No joint pain, since I don’t stress them with extra weight.
Healthy living is within the reach of most of us if we simply have the will power to go for it.
Same here. We had a rule, that you could dish out however much you wanted; but, had to clean your plate.
There was generally plenty, so we learned to dish a little at a time, eat it, and then get more, if we were still hungry.
We sat at the table until everyone was done and then cleared off the dishes into the sink, be for being excused.
If you will research it, you will find that PB today is a GMO. No one, or never heard of, in the old days were allergic to PB. As a GMO, they crossed it with filbert nuts, which many people were allergic to, and now we have a GMO PB that people are allergic to.
That statement is absurd! Peanuts a NOT nuts the are a legume. You can’t cross a tree nut with a bean seed anymore than you can cross a hamster with a trout. They may mix filbert butter in with peanut butter but the plants incompatible of combining.
Ahhh! THAT is the beauty of GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms). The mixture doesn’t even have to be of the same Domain. The peanut or any plant could be crossed with a shell fish (often done) or a lion. The full classification for a lion would be: Kingdom, Animalia (animals); Phylum, Chordata (vertebrate animals); Class, Mammalia (mammals); Order, Carnivora (meat eaters); Family, Felidae (all cats); Genus, Panthera (great cats); Species, leo (lions).
You are thinking “hybrid”. There are hundreds of hybrids of peanuts, perhaps thousands. GMO is not done so often. We don’t yet know whether it is all for good. Some think it is all for bad. I doubt that.
Anyway – Filbert and Peanut combined. THAT is interesting as an explanation for allergy. Good for some. Bad for others. I am appreciative of know that.
Unity and Love,
Bruce
what-a-you-know, learned me something new…
made me laugh with crossing hamster with a trout. perhaps that’s how we came up with the platypus hahahaha its a joke! love the comments, everyone’s input is interesting and YES I eat pass date foods. i Like, OLE!
left cost chuck, I read an article about the reason so many kids have a pb allergy. It said that part of the reason is because doctors have told parents not to feed them PB when they are young so they do not build any immunities to the allergy. Now I do not know if this is true or not. I was raised on PB because we had little else and PB was cheap back then. I remember mom making PB and jelly from my earlest memory(think I was 4 or five when I got my foot half cut off and I remember mom giving me a peanut butter and home made jelly sandwich). Some of that peanut butter was home grown and made lol.
I was a Boy Scout in the 70’s, that was “the good ol’ days” of scouting before it became another corrupted haven for child predators and even now has become “Woke”, what a shame it has turned out to be.
I was brought up in the 60’s when if the food looked and smelt ok, it was ok , I still live by that today, saves me a fortune as the stores always discount food on or near it’s b.b.f or u.b date.
If in doubt get rid of it. No reason to get sick. Just use common sense on all of this. As stated in another comment use the sight and smell tests. But if there is doubt then feed it to the animals. Dogs, cats, chickens….. Chickens eat just about anything. I will feed them anything except chicken. And probably not turkey since they are so closely related. Nothing needs go to waste. If no animals to feed then compost all vegetables and fruits even most dairy products. It can all be repurposed. And I agree with the author, food will survive well past its “best by” date.
I consistently eat canned food that is out of date as long as the can looks good and the food smells good. Sometimes, It will have a “metallic” taste to it but it is still good. I have eaten canned food that was at least 3 years past the date and am still here with no problems from eating it.
At Ark Two we have thrown away literally tons of food – but I keep it years beyond the expiration date, until the cans are rusted and it is obviously no good.
We had cases of V8 juice in large plastic jugs stored for Y2K. Five or more years later the juice had gone completely black – but I opened a jug and drank it by myself over the next two or three days to show people that they didn’t need to get that excited about the expiry date.
We have canned goods that we keep here that my grandson who is over twenty years old will exclaim – “This is older than I am!” And it is true. One was home canned pickles put up by his grandmother.
Skip mold. But odor and taste are important tests. Lots of times it won’t taste too great. Kind of flat – but if the option is starvation and death – eat it.
We have now – these many decades later come up with an entirely new approach/alternative to storage. We call it “Survival Soup” and our slogan is: “Never go hungry again.” But that is another story.
Unity and Love,
Bruce Beach
Don’t leave us hanging. What about survival soup?
Don’t know your version of survival soup but I was raised by country dwelling hard work farming depression survivors.
They taught me how to cook good nutritious cheap food and keep it “fresh” without refrigeration. There is a large stockpot on the stove now as I write this. It is a mixture of various healthy carbs, fats & proteins that are delicious nutritious and SAFE TO EAT after more than a week without refrigeration.
Food only spoils when pathogens attack and are allowed to grow unchecked.
Bringing my soup to an active boil for a few minutes (better yet, to 15 PSI in pressure cooker [240°F]for 1 min), destroys all pathogens. I do this ever day and keep covered in between. I have personally used or been exposed to this method for all of my 67 years, as generations before me.
I teach this technique to younger generations as well.
Nunc,
I grew up with that same stock pot; but, 50 years ago when I worked at a restaurant the summer between high school graduation and college I was part a feeding a continuous large stock pot.
All vegetable and meat trimmings when preparing other food went into the pot that simmered 24/7. Certain foods would start with a dip of that nutritious aromatic nectar as a base, with trimmings and water added to keep the pot running. We do the same here with fresh vegetables; but, also canned. Open a can of peas, carrots, or whole kernel corn and drain the liquid into the pot to make a base for other ”From Scratch” concoctions.
This is one of the most simple statement you can make; but, one that often baffles me, since others do not seem to understand this simple principle of heat killing pathogens. When we hear about contaminated food being recalled, the company has to do the CYA thing; but, with the exception of salad greens that are not generally cooked, pathogens like salmonella are easily killed by thorough cooking.
And by all you mean even Clostridium Botulinum, the reproductive waste product of which is the toxin that causes botulism. Heating to 240° or canning with a pH of 4.6 is another one the misunderstanding of which also baffles me.
I do the same; but, too often youth lack the knowledge to know the why that really helps to understand the how.
I agree. I have two pressure cookers, best way to cook things quicker and yes I am familiar with perpetual soup, and how it goes back hundreds of years… leftovers go in the pot, slow simmer etc which is how such limericks like “pea porridge hot, pea porridge cold, pea porridge in the pot 9 days old” came to be. Another thing is how some meats when they’re beginning to become just a tiny bit ‘ripe’ will straighten out if pressure cooked. My mom nd grandmother were a thrifty pair; they had to be in their times. Nothing wasted. You cleaned your plate. Then you wiped off your spot at the table. To this day I still do this, even at restaurants where I make sure to eat all I take and afterwards I wipe down the table where I sat. Old habits… By the way: As a kid I drank creek and river water when thirsty and never had any ill effects, and we ate veggies straight out of the ground and off the stalks and all we would do is rinse the dirt off. During my years in the military out doing field duty we’d get rations 20 years old in faded brown boxes and we ate them without trouble and the stuff was fine, no worries. I tend to think that too many people today have become ‘soft’ because they never had the chance to develop a proper immune system while growing up. Likewise I learned long ago that foods left overnight without refrigeration when recooked are fine, thank you… you don’t just ‘toss it’. I’ve seen people throw away refrigerated eggs that were a week old. Anyone recall “waterglass” (sodium silicate) that you dipped eggs in to seal them and how they would then keep for a year without refrigeration? I drink well water and have for the last 16 years, which the woman of the house says ‘tastes better than city water because it’s flavored with frog pee’. It does taste better… and yeah I’m a lot healthier than most of my contemporaries and I’ll be 70 my next birthday and I’m still agile and active and I can lift my own weight and then some, and no wrinkles… yet. 🙂
Posts like this one make me think that perhaps there are a lot of LUCKY folk out there. You won’t get food poisoning if there aren’t any toxic bacteria in the local environment, but if there are you won’t know it until the
poisoning has struck. Also, perhaps some people are more resistant to those pathogens. SHOULD we take
our chances if we don’t have to?
That’s why when in doubt, a little Activated Charcoal is called for, it’s great for food poisoning. Same thing they use at Hospitals for food poisoning.
I posted instructions at Harvesting and Using Dandelion Roots. I’ll post here too.
Do Not Use Kingsford Charcoal since it has lighter fluid in it.
go buy a 2×4 pine or any wood will do at the local hardware store. yes you can use the kind they sell on corners that say freshly cut fire wood bundle for $5.00
I say that because someone is going to be a smarty pants. scrap wood from the hardware for free. if you have a woodstove use that to burn it.
I have a small Hobo oven that I made from a big can. I use it to make smores with my daughter and keep the charcoal. Hobo oven instructions on youtube
You can use the fireplace. pretty sure you’ve been left with black burnt pieces of wood that didn’t turn to ashes. that’s your charcoal and it’s activated. activated means it’s oxygenated.
1. wood, burn it. light it with paper or cardboard.
2. let it burn till becomes charcoal.
3. put it in a sealed jar. that’s it.
4. once you have those burnt pieces of wood, to re-oxygenate simply put it in and oven and cook them for 2.5 hours at 350 degrees. I like to reactivate / re-oxygenate when making a new batch. to reactivate or not Meh.
You can also burn tortillas on the stove with fire. I gave that to my children when they had upset stomach, diarrhea.
How do you take it is the next question huh ?
You can crush them into powder and drink it like that
( they do sell it like that. I don’t like it)
or encapsulate them. (they do sell it like that at Whole Foods for $14 ? Rite Aid has some but they’re caplets and are coated pink. I don’t like.
I break a piece and swallow it with water.
How big a piece ? depends on how big you can swallow. don’t go to big because it’s very dry even with water. I just take it raw size.
Thanks for your insight.
Nunc, I’ll be happy to try your soup anytime, sounds good to me!
“Expiration” dates are so misleading. I pretty much ignore those dates as well as “best by dates.” When I have several similar cans, I will use the oldest one first but I’m not afraid to eat “expired” food. But I have used cream soups that were years old. We need to educate consumers.
Yes I absolutely eat food passed it expiration date. I know better like Scott does. Its is a best by date, it doesn’t mean that the food is bad.
We were given a few jars of home canned pickles that were 12 years old. We ate them and they were very good. Last year I found a jar of home canned jelly that was 8 yrs. old. It was also very good. I have eaten many cans of store bought vegetables that were 4-5 years out of date, and I found no problem with any of them. I regularly eat canned food that has “expired” and it has not affected my health. I only store cans that are undented and appear pristine. I often buy meat that is about to go out of date and has been marked down. I have had to throw away only about 2-3% of those purchases because they smelled bad. The rest were fine.
I think that perhaps all of us have consumed food past the date stamped on it, either by accident or deliberately and suffered no noticeable ill effects. As the author states, use by dates are a CYA device. They probably chosen by lawyers, not dietitians nor food experts nor canning engineers.
Did you know that expiration dates are only for the U.S.? Used to work in a canning factory and I found this out working there. If it smells good, tastes good, and looks good then most generally it is good!!
I grew up with 3 brothers and 3 sister. My father was a dumpster diver long before that was even a term. A significant amount of our groceries came from what my father referred to as “the gittin’ place” (behind the grocery store usually, but really any place where goods were disposed of). He had learned the schedule of deliveries to the surrounding grocery stores and made sure to check particular stores on dates he knew they would toss out old stock for new. I remember one day my dad came home with more than 50 dozen eggs. Filled the kitchen sink with water and if the egg floated we tossed it, otherwise we dried it off and put it back in a clean crate. We got pretty good at reading the codes stamped into the tops of unlabeled cans. Expiration dates on canned and dry goods didn’t really show up until the 70’s. Before that, if it looked OK and smell OK you would eat it, if not toss it and open another.
How long did that haul of eggs last your family? And did you store them in any particular way?
I don’t recall what was done with all the eggs. I was just 9 or so at the time and was more occupied being a kid than learning food handling. It was just one of those odd events that was out of place from my childhood that I will always remember.
I’m using eggs date expired last 22 June (right after that, the price jumped over a dollar/dozen). When we sold eggs, the eggman would come around once a month to pick them up. They went to a warehouse, where they might sit weeks more. As long as they’re kept cold, they have a long shelf life. niio
Like your Father collected food from the dumpster, we ( a family w/8kids & poor) would get a call from our neighbor, just returned home from town with pu load of throw-always from Safeway. She would feed this to her hogs. She’d say “ got a good load today” we’d drive over and go through the load and pick out the good stuff from the bed of the truck,fruit, veggies, etc., we kids called it a great picking day, we ate well for two days. That was back in the early 50’s, the good ole days. Yep, if looks good, smells good – eat it. Take care, M
Yep, my approach as well! Now if I could just convince my bride of 53 years!
I agree that the “expiration” dates tend to encourage waste. I’ll be printing this article to show my daughter-in-law to back up my “If it looks good and smell good, give it a try” stance. I did have one flop though. I was making pancakes for my grand daughter, but they didn’t rise. Turned out the mix was years past the expiration date and we didn’t eat them.
That was the baking powder in the mix gone “flat” – next time, use carbonated water or ginger ale and see if that works better.
Anita,
Unless there were bugs in the mix they were probably good to eat, just kind of duds, since the baking powder would have gone flat.
Instead of baking powder, keep Cream of Tartar (Tartaric acid) and Baking Soda (Bicarbonate of soda) on hand and your can make you own no fail baking powder, years in to the future.
Pancakes from scratch BTW are really pretty easy.
Good Old Fashioned Pancakes
Ingredients
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
Directions
• 1.In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.
• 2.Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.
Ohio: Good advice. Why spend extra cash on baking powder, with it’s assorted chemicals and so on, when the old-fashioned ingredients work well? Same with spice mixes, like chili powder. We make our own without the salt. People buy it premixed, and are paying 3 bucks a pound for salt. niio
Red,
Actually, most baking powder doesn’t contain anything except baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate: NaHCO3) & cream of tartar (tartaric acid AKA Potassium Bitartrate: KC4H5O6) and perhaps a bit of corn starch. Adding corn starch to your own will help it stay active longer if you want to store it premixed, since it separats the bits of chemical and stops them from interacting until you add water or other liquid to the mixture.
It’s the same for lots of from scratch cooking vs. box mixes.
For instance, I can whip up pancakes from scratch for pennies from materials on hand
you can (and i did just yesterday in fact) substitute the same amount of (truly) expired (clabbered) milk instead of regular (unspoiled) milk. just like using buttermilk. fried in bacon grease only! i also grind back to flour any dried out doughnuts, cereals, cake, cookies, etc. and re/use this flour for my pancakes. don’t need to add sugar either.
Food sold in Germany doesn’t have an expiry date; it has a “Good until at least…” date. Seems like Germany trusts its people to take a sniff before eating something and get rid of it if it smells a bit off. Maybe they don’t have as many lawyers as we do.
the last dozen eggs in the fridge are dated in June. Yes, they’re still good. I stock up in early summer, when prices can top 2 dollars a dozen. These cost less than a buck a dozen, and because I’m not a big egg fan, a few dozen in the fridge can last months. The price is dropping in Arizona with the temps, and these eggs might wind up pickled with red beets–or not. the javalina seem to have developed a taste for mine and raided the garden, again. Any suggestions on how to make a javalina look like a Thanksgiving turkey? 🙂 But, my sisters live close to Grocery Outlet stores, and most of the stock is dented or out of date. Costs are only about 25% of what other stores want. niio
I went to the local Grocery Outlet for the first time on my way to Walmart to buy my weekly groceries. There were buys ther, for sure, but most of the prices at this store were about the same as Walmart. Also, some of the goods especially things like cookies and snacks used the old Dollar Store trick- only 99cents but very small box like 9 cookies. Food-born illnesses are really debilitating so while I am sure a majority of foods are fine well past sell-by date, not anxious to try. When I first started prepping took 12 boxes that paper came in and wrote the month on them in black marker. Opened each box that month of following year and used. Always bought food that was good at least one year out. Was trying a lot of things hadn’t eaten before so it was a good way to start out and rotation was easy. Would sure hate to come down with food poisoning in a SHTF situation.
Govtgirl,
Weekly groceries? We don’t shop near that often; but, do purchase a lot with each trip to town. If you got stuck at home for a few weeks, could you survive? Unless that answer is yes, you’ll need to do additional planning.
We have a grocery outlet called Dings & Dents and run into the same problem. The maxim ”Caveat Emptor” should always apply and you should know the worth and value of any item you consider for purchase.
In many cases simply cooking thoroughly can go a long way to prevent this, since any bacteria that can cause food borne illnesses will succumb to heat over time. 160° F or higher is the minimum recommended.
Could shop less often. The grocery store near me is very expensive. Many of the items are $1 more each. Sometimes I buy two weeks worth, but usually not. Driving the half hour each way to Walmart, I pass 5 other stores. Save several hundred dollars per month. Live in a retirement town in north Puget Sound area where merchants think everyone is loaded. Son just got promoted from job in Seattle to London. No reason to stay here now. Probably will end up in a town like Beatrice Nebraska. Walmart 5 miles in one direction and a lake for fishing 5 miles the other way. What more could anyone want?
I had to laugh when the weekly grocery shopping was challenged. I discovered how much time I could save if I only shopped every other week. I meant I had to plan meals for two weeks and use the more perishable items the first week. I was really enjoying the “free” time I got.
Then my son’s family moved in with us. My daughter-in-law didn’t like how crammed the fridge was after my two-week shopping and decided to do the shopping for the family.
More “free” time for me. 😉
Ha! way to go. Now get another fridge for her to fill up. 🙂 If someone likes to shop, call them a blessing. niio
Gov: Where was that? the only high-priced items I ever saw were specialty, like meats from Martin’s. WalMart where I went didn’t come close to the savings. For food poisoning, the old-timers put one teaspoon rosemary leaves (dried) in a cup, filled the cup with boiling water, and covered that for 10 minutes. Sip slowly. Sometimes a 2nd cup is needed, but rarely. No more than 2 cups! Rosemary neutralizes the toxins from food poisoning. niio
Anacortes. Thanks for the rosemary tip. Reading all this is a real eye-opener as have always been very wary of food-borne illnesses. Guess that is why I shop frequently so perishables are fresh and little waste. Will have to adjust my thinking once again. Sigh.
Red,
Since our hens usually produce more eggs than we can easily use; but, then molt and produce none for a while, we’ll often have dozens of eggs in the fridge that are months old, all still good to eat.
We do that; but, also use them for things like French toast.
Not turkey; but, perhaps a Thanksgiving or Christmas ham when thoroughly cooked.
Chickens do not survive long in the valley. Coyotes, eagles, hawks, stray dogs and cats, rattlers. Those who have ‘traditional’ heavy and light poultry have pens roofed over, but how good is that? Most turkey breeds had been used as layers, but 150 eggs a year is considered excellent lay. But, turnkeys can get free-ranged where Europe breeds can’t. Native chickens, like Olmecs, again, 150 eggs a year is good, but the eggs are small. They like the heat, don’t mind below freezing weather or the wind, and tend to eat rattlers. If I were to get chickens, it would be them.
One javalina, apple in its mouth, turkey feathers jammed in the unmentionable place, roasted till tender. niio
Bringing in the whole roast pig was part of the Christmas pageantry in medieval times. Instead of trying to make a turkey out of a pig, just roast the whole hog in a pit in your yard and that’s your Christmas meal.
Just kidding about it. Javalina here are about 50 lbs when adults. No, as much as I’d like to, people get annoyed when a gun goes off in town. Outside of town, most of the people will be shooting, too 🙂 Christmas dinner, we always had a goose, a turkey, and a ham. Big family with lots of guests. With adults packed in the kitchen and living room, us kids would take out plates and sneak down to the barn to eat, and share a little with whatever pig Dad and Mom decided would be part of the sauerkraut New Years Day. Moocher always left this world a happy pig. niio
I discovered that a large bag of rice I had bought to prep had expired, but I cooked it and didn’t have any problem with it at all.
As long as the rice has been stored in a dry environment it is usable. My wife pulled out a bag I vacuum sealed nearly 20 years ago and it was fine.
I live in dry environment so that works well for us. I have an old broken down chest freezer we use to store dried rice and beans.
Sometimes old rice or beans take longer to cook, and you might need a bit more water.
Unless it smells bad, looks weird or is moving, eat and be grateful.
Leanybean,
If you had the resources to perform a nutritional analysis, it may have been lacking; but, in a real SHTF situation, a full belly and calories can often be the important thing.
We worked on mission in India for over ten years. They stored rice in circular granaries make of coiled rice straw…mice bugs etc but it stays edible for years. White rice is a very durable storage food. Carbs for survival…
Thank you for the post. Here, we hung eats of corn from the rafters of the house where they were in smoke all winter. Anything smaller, like amaranth, was stored in heavy earthenware jars and sealed. Down in the desert, people used to build granaries using a lot of agave (century plant) sap in the plaster. Anything that tried to gnaw into the granary didn’t live long. Family from Bangladesh (son-in-law’s kin) said they mix a lot of dried bay leaves in the rice, and that keeps out bugs, tho rats might still get in. niio
Go to a food shelf. Eggs, milk products, bread products; many are beyond the printed expire date.
My most extreme was a vacuum-sealed pack of bacon in my camper – 6 years old ! Hubby wouldn’t touch it, but I did just fine 🙂
Adam Connover, on his program “Adam Ruins Everything” covered the food expiration date scam last year. His program is on Tru TV, you should be able to find it On Demand.The show is funny and informative.
Thanks for this. Will watch.
I Eat Expired Food. 59 years old and Still Kicking,
Maybe close to kicking the bucket But Ain’t Going Down Without a Fight and enjoying my food. OLE!
I worked for our church food bank and actually called manufacturers regarding the expiration dates. One company told me as long as the can is undamaged and not bulging the food will be safe to eat. The texture and flavor might not be the same but it is still edible. I was concerned giving people food that had “best buy” dates that had gone by. Since then I don’t throw out canned food that is “outdated” in my house, we eat them and thankfully have had no ill effects.
Nitroglycerine is one medication that “goes bad” near expiry date.
GMO means “genetically” modified, not natural grafting etc – which is why you CAN have peanuts with some filbert DNA, or fish virus in GMO tomatoes etc.
Research – most measles outbreaks recently were primarily in vaccinated kids.
Fos,
This condition depends on the form of Nitroglycerine. The tablets go bad within 6 months of opening the bottle; but, the sublingual spray I carry is officially good for 2 years, and I’ve used it effectively 6+ years beyond the date marked on the container.
I have never been worried about the ‘expiration date’ or ‘best used by’ date and have saved a great deal of money as well as not wasted food. My mother ran a little country store in north Missouri for years and we ate things that had a bad date or were dented or produce that needed to be cleaned up. We know to look for bulging tops and bottoms and simple signs that the food was not fit to eat. It breaks my heart to see how much perfectly good food gets thrown out when their are people in this country that don’t have enough to eat.
you are so correct.
much food is wasted.
some will not eat leftovers.
our family was frugal.
some food taste better the next day.
I Loves Me Leftovers Mmm OLE!
About food poisoning: 2 things to take that work quickly:
Activated charcoal – 1 tsp + 8oz water – stir and drink. or
Liquid bentonite – 1/2 cup + 8oz water – stir and drink
If still ill after 4 hours – repeat
This has saved us several times from going to the ER!
Good rule of thumb on canned goods that my mom, who went thru the Great Depression, taught me…
If it “spews” when you open it, it’s bad. Toss it.
I have not read all the comments so please forgive if I repeat anyone, but there are a couple of things I thought of while reading.
I never pay attention to the expiration date on eggs. My grandmother taught me to put an egg in a cup of water. If it lays flat, it is very fresh and good. If it floats, it is very old, the air sac is large, it might have bacteria in it. Those that stand up on end are up to you as far as age, but always remember bad eggs have a bad smell you can’t miss; raw or cooked.
The reason grocers will sell dented cans before expiration date is because even the slightest dent destroys the integrity of the can which means it will not always show a “convex” lid if bacteria has gotten in. Some of your test cans looked like they might have had a couple of tiny dents which might have been the culprit. Do not include any dented cans in your stockpile! If one falls off a shelf or somehow dents while in storage, eat that one now.
When I was stationed in the Philippines we had to keep everything not in metal cans in sealed containers or the ants and roaches would eat through cardboard, plastic, and mylar packaging. I discovered this after opening a bag of Doritos stored in a cupboard and it was full of ants. After careful inspection of the bag I found a couple of very small holes had been chewed through near the bottom, so I opened boxes and checked other dry packages like mac-n-cheese and Hamburger Helper envelopes, and several had small holes chewed through the packaging, some had ants and other types of insects inside also. After that everything was stored either in airtight sealed type containers or the refrigerator – even dry goods went into the refrigerator. Back in the USA we were storing flavored drinks that come in plastic bottles like Sunny-D and Gatorade on shelves in the garage and one day found one had leaked all over the shelf. Upon closer inspection you could see where rats had chewed through the thick plastic bottle, so I checked and saw a few other bottles had also been chewed but not all the way through,, After that l set out snap traps in the garage and all bottled drinks were stored on shelves in the house where the rats dare not enter – we have dogs that will kill them if they can catch them. We had the same problem with bagged dry dog food stored in the garage, both rodents and ants would chew into the bags, so we bought a large Gamma-Sealed pet food container and it works great, and all extra bags are stored inside the house, We also had ants and earwigs raiding the dog food dishes so now keep them on shallow trays which deters the crawling insects from finding them, and if we see any ants are raiding the dog food dishes we put about 1/2 inch of water in the trays and make sure the food dishes do not tough the sides. This creates a “moat” around the food dish that most crawling insects won’t cross. We stopped putting the dog food dishes outside because even if you use trays and keep the insects out, the birds and rats would raid when the dogs were elsewhere..
Food pantries around here will accept food that’s up to 18 months past the best by date. I’ve had cans and jars of food that have lasted well over 5 years. Once I was issued a c-ration in 1970 that was packaged in 1945. One can had a rusted out seam, but other contents were still good. OK, the cigarettes were brown, but i didn’t smoke them.
Occasionally you find a puckered lid or leaking pull tab. Those go right out without another look. Buy cans that are not dented, especially on seams.
DOD did a study on “expired” medicines and found that those in tablet form were still effective, with slight loss in potency up to 15 years after expy. Liquids faired the worst, gels and cremes came in in the middle. A friend who’s a pharmacist also did a similar study while in school and came up with similar results. Any liquids that change color, develop precipitates, or show other obvious changes should be regarded with suspicion.
i like to deliberately keep numbing throat sprays, esp the green ones, for years. i seldom use them for sore throats/tickles but when i need them they have evaporated and concentrated and i only need around 3 sprays rather than 5+.
ate a can of sardines that expiration date was 2 years old. Apr 2019. that was a week ago. tasted good, enjoyed it. i also have grated mozzarella cheese that’s 2 years old which i sprinkle on my pasta. been in fridge so no problems.
Our church had a “wet pack” facility in Dallas years ago. We canned hamburger meat in 1996 and are still eating it. The fat and salt tablet has migrated to the top of the can but rinse on in tap water and it’s just as good as new store bought.
WOW! you guys take the cake and then some LOL Thank You for sharing.
Thank you!
after that expiration date if it smells good and has no mold chances are is it still good