Product Dating

For the past ten years, I have been visiting a wide variety of "surplus" or 'salvage" grocery stores. Salvage grocery stores are generally located in and around areas with heavy concentrations of Amish and Mennonites.

Salvage stores stock products purchased from retailers, manufacturers and various jobbers.

Some of the products are overruns, some past dated, and some have the "old" packaging. Some are products that were produced by US manufacturers for the export market but not shipped overseas.

Some people express objections to using past date goods. My approach has always been "it depends." If it is a meat product or a refrigerated product, I am Not excited about it. However, on canned goods - if there are no dents or damage - I have no problems.

Here is an article that I came across this morning:

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/foodpolicy ... report.pdf

The sell by or "best by" dates are not necessarily for food safety. It is the time after which a change could be noted.
I would go a little further than you: I wouldn't buy expired dairy, baked goods (except maybe to make bread crumbs or pain perdu), eggs or meat.

But yeah, most canned goods should be fine, but perhaps a change in flavor -- not always for the worst. I remember Anthony Bourdain reporting about some place in Spain that ages their canned seafood, to great success.

JoelF wrote:But yeah, most canned goods should be fine, but perhaps a change in flavor -- not always for the worst. I remember Anthony Bourdain reporting about some place in Spain that ages their canned seafood, to great success.

A couple of years ago, my mother moved into a retirement village. When we cleaned out her cabinets, we found a can of anchovy paste dated 1955. What is really weird is that she has lived in 4 different places since 1955, which means that can followed her from Boston to Chicago to Washington State and finally to Tucson. I was too scared to open the can, let alone taste the contents, but somehow, I don't think that anchovy paste is one of those canned seafoods that benefits from aging, especially for 55 years.

Well. at least no bacteria or other nasties could get in there. Why not try it?