Interesting article for recurring "Is it safe to eat?" questions

[ElizabethB]

The last paragraph is especially interesting.

 

http://www.slate.com/id/2244249/

[Rosy]

Thanks for sharing--I've always suspected that, and have always used the "smell test" or judged by appearance, rather than the marked date.

[AFwife Claire]

Thanks for sharing--I've always suspected that, and have always used the "smell test" or judged by appearance, rather than the marked date.

 

 

Yes, me too. I'm pretty cavalier about dates if the product smells and looks good. Especially things like sour cream and meat that has been frozen. I just found a forgotten package of ground beef in the very back of my deep freezer from 2007! I browned it up (smelled fine!) and put it in a taco soup. Tasted great, and we all did just fine.

 

I do smell milk whenever I open a new gallon, though, because I have been burned before by milk that has "expired" before it's expiration date! Grrr.

[cougarmom4]

Interesting article. Thanks for posting it.

 

Doesn't it seem crazy that toothpaste and shampoo now have expiration dates? Come on...it has always bugged me. I think it's just marketing...

[ElizabethB]

I

Doesn't it seem crazy that toothpaste and shampoo now have expiration dates? Come on...it has always bugged me. I think it's just marketing...

:iagree:

 

I can see toothpaste, maybe, if it were 10 or 20 years, but shampoo?

[Rosie_0801]

I like expiration dates on shampoo and things like that. It comforts me to know they are made from things that do actually go off!

 

Rosie

[asta]

My husband and I celebrated a special occasion by going to a fancy shmancy restaurant. We all ordered (3 different cuts) of steak. He cut into his and I was assaulted by the most vile smell - I said "can't you smell that???" Apparently not. He tasted it and pronounced it absolutely fabulous. Kid tasted it and said the same. They both chided me, as part of my epilepsy is olfactory hallucinations.

 

Fast forward to later that night: DH is sick. And I mean SICK. Like someone poisoned him sick. DS and I are fine. I know that some things are more easily smelled by men than women and vice versa, and I *do* have a very sensitive nose, but... DANG! It wasn't food poisoning - we've both had that before - this was... different.

 

I'm just glad DH is superman. ;)

 

 

a

[KidsHappen]

olfactory hallucinations. a

 

 

I have these with my migraines and my hubby couldn't smell a skunk if he was sprayed by one so I frequently have no idea if something really smells bad or if I am getting a migraine. Usually the hallucitory ones are clearly out of place but sometimes not.

 

On the other hand, my hubby has a paranoia about expired food and will frequently try to tell me something has gone bad when it doesn't expire for another two weeks. He will say, "It's bad! Can't you smell it? It's bad!" To which I always reply, "It smells fine. If it smelled bad, trust me, I would know! You wouldn't have to ask me, I would be telling you."

 

Which leads to one of the more amusing stories of our married life. Once a very long time ago, we bought a jar of Smuker's blackberry jam (my favorite). When we got home, he opened it and said, "Oh, this is bad. It smells bad. Can't you smell it?" So I smell it and say no it's fine, that it smells like blackberry jam. He is very insistant and swears up and down it is bad. "Trust me on this." he says. "I know when food is bad." So I humor him. We throw the jam away and we go to a different store and buy a different bottle from a different batch with a different expiration date. We go home and go through the whole proceedure all over again. Well, now he is convinced that it must be that brand. So we go to a different store and buy a different brand. We go home and he says that that one is bad too. To which I answer, "No honey, that is what blackberry jam smells like." So now, whereever he starts on one of his kicks, I just say, "No honey, that's just what it smells like." :tongue_smilie:

[AFwife Claire]

LOL, I did the same thing with raw chicken once. I threw away the whole package because I was convinced it was bad. The next package smelled the same, however. Turned out it wasn't the chicken--I was pregnant. I'm guessing that's not your dh's problem, however, LOL.