A similar story was on the Today Show this morning - apparently Americans waste a lot of food throwing things out past the "sell by" date, when actually that's just the date the food is at it's peak....

Cool tip about egg freshness. I don't think I've ever had a problem with eggs going bad in our house, but it'll be fun to see if they float or not!

@Mike8813: how long can boiled eggs last (assuming refridgeration)?

I'm a big fan of stilltasty.com for figuring out how long stuff is good for.

I remember cleaning out my family's old freezer in our basement about 2 years ago before we got rid of it. I found frozen vegetables from 1973 in the bottom. Suffice it to say, we were not brave enough to try it, although it would've been interesting to eat food that predates me by more than a decade...

@hillsrovey: Is there any reason to having -only- the often misunderstood "sell by" date on a package other than hoping the consumer will throw out something still fresh and buy another one?

My expiration date tutorial:
- Open container
- Sniff
- Shake contents a little bit
- Sniff
- Ponder and hold head in quizzical fashion
- Deeper sniff
- Shrug and continue with eating/drinking/cooking

@rorschachex: Dude, I would love to eat green beans from 1973.

Best turkey I ever ate: a 27-pound bird that I had in my freezer for three years. I told my Thanksgiving guests that the secret was to "marinate it in ice for a few years first" for perfect tenderness. =3

I use the honey test. "Honey, does this taste OK to you?" Thank you! I'll be here all week!

Gosh, did that Minyanville story really have to end with "Happy Tossing"? I prefer angry, abusive tossing myself.

@Jevia: I've heard that once they're hard-boiled you should use them within 2 - 3 days.

The information given is a little confusing. Whensthe video is discussing milk and eggs, they are mentioning how long it takes until the food becomes spoiled. But the freezer life it different. Anything frozen (at 0%) will remain unspoiled indefinitely -- the guidance given in the video is talking about when the taste begins to change

@outlulz: Well, a "use by" date on something requiring refrigeration would have to presume the consumer stored the food properly. It'd probably become a magnet for trumped-up lawsuits.

@Cletus: I've heard that once they're hard-boiled they're disgusting. Oh wait, that was just me thinking out loud. Yuck!

@calquist: Works for me.

@calquist:
- hand to significant other to sniff
- ignore advice and continue with eating/drinking/cooking

@Hoss: They point that out at the end.

@outlulz: Because people don't pay attention? Grocery stores have to throw out milk two days before the sell by date, and other things are more ridiculous (formula is tossed 2 -months- before the date). Honestly, I'm betting it's just to keep the average consumer from making dumb mistakes and blaming the producer.

@rorschachex: Food being there since 1973 means it's not been cleaned since 1973. Why would you even consider eating from the top, let alone the bottom?

Another big topic for expiration dates is medication. The US armed forces did a study / asked about when medications really should be discarded (due to replacing costs) and most medications last a LOT longer than on the package - the package's date has more to do with package redesign timing than actual loss of potency.
6 - 10 years for the dry pill / tablet formats, less for the liquid tabs (I seem to remember).

@amandakerik: According to our first year pharmacy professor most drugs are safe to consume almost indefinitely (esp pill forms) though the potency of the medications is reduced over time. I don't know how long though.

What I honestly think the problem is as well, is that some food has a cryptic date code as well. It makes it harder for people to understand when it was made, or when it is good until.

@amandakerik: Yeah, yet there are plenty of lawsuits and legal actions against pharmacists dispensing (intentional or not) expired medications. Money talks. Telling people to use expired meds will only increase liability and gives lawsuit lawyers 100% chance of winning, especially if anything (regardless of whether it's actually related to the drugs or not) happened to the person.

@Ryan Gard: Agreed. This is THE problem. I've seen this more and more, and I don't understand the reasoning behind it.