I was wondering if sun-dried tomatoes last “forever” like, e.g., miso paste and chipotle peppers in adobo. My sun-dried tomatoes package has no expiration date, is 6 months old, contains preservatives, reads...

stupid that I didn’t check the dates). I had seen jams that expired around 2006. Now most of these goods actually stay “fresh” long after their expiration, and I am not timid about it. But isn’t it illegal...

I just found a package of them in my fridge...the only expiration date I saw on it was for a upc code promotion that expired in June '06 (whoops) Since they are processed, canned and refrigerated, is there anyway they’d...

I found a large point cut that I found at the back of the fridge. It has an expiration date of May 20th. I know its preserved up the wazoo. Would you cook it?

When I look at the Caliornia Baord, it is frozen on the February 23rd date, meaning I can not see anything posted beyond this date. Any idea why?

First, the expiration date is a somewhat voluntary estimate of ten days prior to it going bad. It is a “sell by” date, not a “goes bad” date. That aside, cheeses and yogurts are what I would suggest. If you...

OK, not talking about serving this to guests or anything but... pandoro cakes can often be bought that have expiration dates many many months later than the purchase date. What do you think is likely to be ‘wrong with’...

My husband received a $100 gift certificate for Son Cubano which had an expiraton date of 8/05. While we were slow to use it, we went to Son Cubano two weeks ago and they rejected it because it was past the expiration date. I...

Several years ago I bought chestnut flour, meaning to make castagnaccio. I never did, and last night I came across the flour, two years beyond its expiration date! I’m assuming I should just toss it but wanted to check to...

I know that expiration dates are there for a reason, but in general, how far past can you go and still be safe? Drugs are usually good for almost 2-3 past the expiration date stamped on the box. What about yogurt? Bread? Milk?...

Use-by dates on food: iron-clad law or mere suggestion?

It’s National Food Safety Education Month! Let’s celebrate with some food storage tips.

This week was so crazy that I didn’t notice that my 10 pounds of vacuum-packed Foster Farms chicken breasts from Costco expired 2 days ago! (10/26 use or freeze by date). If I open it up and it stills smells okay, should I...

So I was away for a few days and came back to find a verry expensive tub of mascarpone which I’d decided against using for a dinner party dessert and then forgotten. The expiration date seems to be August 8 or 9...

In July, Jon had sent a message titled 'European Expiration Dates on Food' enquiring how to translate a coding (e.g., L3623) to determine freshness of a product that may have been purchased say in NY. L3623 is most probably not a...