How old is too old?

When I moved I brought some food with me. Some of it is kind of old.

How do I know if the pasta is bad?

Old dried beans are tough and really nasty. How old is too old?

White rice seems to last forever but brown rice goes rancid, so I've been told. Does it smell bad before you cook it?

I read that baking mixes like pancake mix or Bisquick can make you really sick, or even kill you if it is too old. I once read an article about a kid getting sick from his grandmother's pancakes.

What about flour and oatmeal? In war movies people eat buggy food and are glad for the extra protein. Can bug poo make you sick like mouse/rat droppings?

I think cans probably last forever. I have volunteered at a local foodbank and they often give away expired cans, so I figure cans are OK unless they are rusty or look odd.

My rule is....... if you have to ask, it's probably too old.


Yahoo Answers might be a better place for this question though.

ill bite ... looks LIKE a coded message ...but then again that could just be my mind playing tricks on me ?

Most dried foods are relatively good for an indefinite period...pasta, dry beans, dried fruits,the key is keeping them dry.

Avoid canned foods after about 6months to a year after expiration date...wet foods are just that...moisture eventually means bacteria. Do NOT eat from rusty/dented cans...never eat from a swollen can=botulism.

Bagged chips, cookies, crackers will last about 6 monthys to a year..the quality will go down rapidly after that.

Oddly enough, the food industry is not required to date foods... it is done as a quality tool... assuring freshness.

Lastly, home canned veggies are good for a number of years..we just finished some green beans from 2004-2005. Also, country hams(salt cured) actually get better and more flavorful upto about 3 or so years.

when in doubt throw it out.

It is just a bad idea to have around. Think about it. Say something happens and you need to eat it. Chances are you would be starving and anything would taste good. That alone would cover the bad taste and you might eat it anyways making you sick. Then you have to worry about finding more food whole you are suffering from an illness, just a bad scene.

Originally posted by zaiger
when in doubt throw it out.

Normally I would agree with you. Someone I know has quoted me as saying, "Is it worth eating 35 cents worth of food and getting food poisening from it?"

However, I have a small plastic bin full of pasta. It would cost alot to replace it. I would probably throw it out and not buy more.

Is it better to have old food than no food?

Originally posted by Republican08
My rule is....... if you have to ask, it's probably too old.


Yahoo Answers might be a better place for this question though.

I didn't think of that. Thanks!

sorry posted in the wrong forum...timet o shut her down...lol





[edit on 30-4-2010 by whiteraven]

For some reason I thought this was in a survival scenario, and I was going to say keep it all!

But you're only moving.....toss the old stuff and start over. If you haven't eaten it by now you aren't going to, so why keep it. Rice and sugar keep forever if kept dry.

Cans rule: If the top poofs up, it shall kill you, or make you beg for death.

Elderly people tend to lose muscle mass and fat, so over 70 is off the menu.
Anything young, or into their 30s and 40s should be just fine if they're healthy.

Treat your neighbors well, you never know when you might need them.

The date on most canned goods is a "best before" date. it doesn't mean the food will be bad but the texture/flavor might be different.
I try to Stay away from the pop top cans for long term storage.
I recently found some 5 year old cans of soup that didn't get rotated, They tasted fine and i didn't die.
Last year I found a case of Kraft macaroni and cheese that I put away for Y2K. The cheese powder was a little clumpy but tasted fine as did the pasta. Not bad for being 10 years old.

Dry flour and grains like cornmeal (which would include pancake mixes, as well) contain very, very, very tiny insect eggs in them that make it past the processing and when the product gets too old, they will hatch into little worms. I learned the hard way when making pancakes one day. I tend to toss any flour I have left after 6 months. Keeping it in an airtight container in the fridge and storing extra in the freezer will keep it longer.

As far as pasta, I have seen it look funny after a year or so but I have eaten it without issue.

canned foods are the best solution for long time storage. I once seen a program on how long does food last in tins and in this program they had a 100 year old corned beef in a tin obviously still sealed. They opened it and ate it and they said it tasted just as good as it would have tasted if you opened it 2 months after it going in the tin. Dried foods are tenious to keep dry if you havent got the right enviorment for them to be stored. Just a tiny amount of moisture can easily make mould on a lot of dried foods.

reply to post by CoherentlyConfused


You can freeze these things for a few days or more and that is supposed to kill the eggs. Then if you want you can take them out of the freezer and store in a plastic container in a cool dry place. i don't know how long it lasts but I've read that flour can last up to 5 years this way. I have had no problems with this method and I do stock up and rotate my food supplies.

Originally posted by ladyinwaiting
For some reason I thought this was in a survival scenario, and I was going to say keep it all!

But you're only moving.....toss the old stuff and start over. If you haven't eaten it by now you aren't going to, so why keep it. Rice and sugar keep forever if kept dry.

Cans rule: If the top poofs up, it shall kill you, or make you beg for death.

I already moved it because it was a lot of food in a small space and lighter than cans. I left the cans behind.

Some rice goes bad because it has a high fat content. I think only white rice lasts forever.

Originally posted by anxietydisorder
Elderly people tend to lose muscle mass and fat, so over 70 is off the menu.
Anything young, or into their 30s and 40s should be just fine if they're healthy.

Treat your neighbors well, you never know when you might need them.

I heard aliens only eat kids because adults have too many toxins in their bodies.

Originally posted by DucTape

I try to Stay away from the pop top cans for long term storage.
I recently found some 5 year old cans of soup that didn't get rotated, They tasted fine and i didn't die.
Last year I found a case of Kraft macaroni and cheese that I put away for Y2K. The cheese powder was a little clumpy but tasted fine as did the pasta. Not bad for being 10 years old.

Thanks. You were really helpful.
I think I have a few cans with pop tops, mostly small cans of meat or tuna. I won't buy any more except to eat right away.
Thanks for the 10 year old pasta story. I think I will keep the pasta that I have. It is probably half that old.
Thanks!

Originally posted by CoherentlyConfused
Dry flour and grains like cornmeal (which would include pancake mixes, as well) contain very, very, very tiny insect eggs in them that make it past the processing and when the product gets too old, they will hatch into little worms.

As far as pasta, I have seen it look funny after a year or so but I have eaten it without issue.

I know worms look gross, but is that a good thing or a bad thing? Worms equal protein.

Old Bisquick or pancake mixes can kill you. It has something to do with one of the ingredients like baking soda or baking powder turning into something else with age. I don't know if sealing it for long term storage fixes the problem or not.

Yea, pasta turns kind of speckled looking but I never heard of anyone getting sick from plain old pasta.

Originally posted by loner007
they had a 100 year old corned beef in a tin obviously still sealed. They opened it and ate it and they said it tasted just as good as it would have tasted if you opened it 2 months after it going in the tin.

Just a tiny amount of moisture can easily make mould on a lot of dried foods.

The can story is great! Thanks!

I have had dried cranberries in an unopened bag in my cupboard go bad before the exporation date.

Someone I know who dries food said it only stores well in the frig.

Originally posted by Ellie Sagan
reply to post by CoherentlyConfused

 

You can freeze these things for a few days or more and that is supposed to kill the eggs. Then if you want you can take them out of the freezer and store in a plastic container in a cool dry place. i don't know how long it lasts but I've read that flour can last up to 5 years this way. I have had no problems with this method and I do stock up and rotate my food supplies.

Great information! Thanks! I bought a couple of bags of flour to make cookies when I moved here and forgot about them. They are probably wormy since they are about a year old.

The next flour I buy I am going to freeze! Thanks!