Spoiled foods: Would you eat it?!
For me, I won't touch anything spoiled but I might use milk up to 2 or 3 days past the sell by- and yogurt, too- as long as it smells okay.
Just curious! It's a bit of a light hearted debate in our house sometimes.
Answers:
Food with a "sell by" date should be good for 5-7 days past that date. That is the date which grocery stores have to take them off their shelves (and you wonder why there's so much watse). A "use by" date should be used ASAP, usually no more than 2-3 days past that date. I've used milk past it's expiration date because it smelled fine. Most spolied foods have no odor so I use the "when in doubt throw it out" rule.
NO. WHY WOULD YOU. BY. CHEF AND COOKBOOK WRITER.
ill only eat something past its sell by date if its not too old and is NOT WET
no, i wouldn't, but if it's only a few days i might take a try...=)
toss it for sure,better to don't get sick
no i can not eat it
no i've got ibs so i'm avoiding it
I don't like waste. Sell by dates are not expiration dates, spoiled food is not that hard to recognize by site and smell. If fruit, veggie, or bread-mold is bad.
Meat or fish that smells, toss.
Milk is easy, can't accidentally drink soured milk. Same holds for all dairy products.
Cans that have any signs of rust or bulges, just throw out.
Now how to cut down on waste and sacrifice neither health nor taste? Don't buy quantities you know you can't use. With my kids out on their own now, I cannot consume 5 pounds of ground sirloin, no matter how great the 'buy.' However, I can buy it and make it into 10 half pound packages and freeze it. Not only will it defrost much more quickly, I can take out just what I need for a particular recipe.
Which brings up another item, veggies. I like fresh when possible, but do not like going to the grocery many times a week. I buy what's on sale but always have on hand: carrots, celery, onions, peppers, and squash. I prep about 1/2 of each and store in vegetable bags. The other 1/2 I cut into soup/stew sizes, parboil a few seconds, cool, and freeze. They are ready for soup, stews, and chilies. When I make one of those, I may use 2-3 pounds of meat, all the frozen veggies. I usually have a serving for dinner, put two servings in fridge; one for lunch, another dinner. The rest I freeze in individual servings.
I bake my own breads, but what I don't consume in 2 days, I make into croutons or bread crumbs and freeze. I probably have the most diverse seasoned bread additions in town!
If somehow my carrots, onions, etc., seem to be getting limp in green bags, I make soup.
Not only do I save money, but I also have little waste. Besides being frugal with food waste, I recycle everything possible. I only have refuse can out for collection about every 3 weeks, but recycling bins and big container weekly.