When In Doubt, Throw It Out?

Do you ever find yourself looking at something in the refrigerator and thinking "hmm...I wonder if this is still good" or "huh...how long ago did I buy that"? How long will the open can of crushed tomatoes last in the fridge and how long past the "sell by" date can I keep my eggs?  Well fear not my fellow bitches, I have the answers to all your food-expiration questions... actually, I don't personally know the answers, but I know a place where you can find them. But first, a few clarifications. 


There are many different expiration phrases that you may see on packages - "sell by ___" vs. "expires on___" vs. "best if used by ____". I don't know about you, but I certainly never received any formal education on how to distinguish among these different wordings. Instead, we are left to our own devices to try and decipher these expiration codes, and hope that we don't get food poisoning from our lack of knowledge (ok, so I'm being a bit dramatic). Thankfully there is another alternative to complete naivety: use your noggin and simply google "sell by vs. expires on"...the first link is a link to the USDA website, in which the official definitions of these phrases are given. I've taken the liberty to summarize: 


Sell-by date: grocery stores need to sell the product by this date, but the product has not technically "expired". You've got a good couple of days (depending on the item) to use the product after this date comes and goes. However, do not buy the product from a store if the sell-by date has already passed.


Best if used by date: the product is around its peak of tastiness & freshness (supposedly...keep in mind how far your food had to travel, and reassess what "fresh" really means), but there are lingering days of "peak" taste, so you can definitely use the product for a few days after this date.


Use by or expires on date: a company determined that its product technically "expires" on this date...however, if you properly store your food at the correct temperature (ex: you keep your milk in the fridge and don't let it sit out at room temperature for extended periods of time), then you can usually squeeze a day or two more out of the product, once the expiration day hits. 


Now that you've been (briefly) educated on the topic of expiration phrases, I'll share my secret source of wisdom regarding how long to keep and the best methods for storing your food: stilltasty.com. Bookmark it on your laptop, or send yourself an email with the link (although, the name is pretty darn easy to remember...). No longer does your food storage knowledge need to be limited to the "when in doubt, throw it out" mantra (although, if you are in doubt, and you see mold growing, then for goodness sake throw it out!). From now on, whenever you have a question like, "is this peanut butter still good" or "for how long can I keep chicken in the freezer", go to stilltasty.com!