I can’t bear to throw away expired food, but can I still eat it?

I found out that the food I wanted to eat has expired.

But I can't bear to throw it away

So I searched online

Among the hundreds of suggestions not to eat

Find one that says it's edible.

Finally ate it with peace of mind

In most cases

We didn't have diarrhea.

But found nothing happened

So, can we eat expired food?

Is it really okay to eat it?

What does the shelf life of food mean?

Usually, we judge whether the food we buy is expired mainly by looking at the shelf life on the packaging.

Article 99 of the Food Safety Law, which was passed and implemented in 2009, clearly states: "Shelf life" refers to the period during which pre-packaged food maintains its quality under the storage conditions specified on the label.

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There are two key words in this definition, one of which is "specified storage conditions".

Simply put, storage conditions are the restrictions on the food storage environment in addition to the time dimension. The shelf life of ice cream is usually 6 months to 2 years. We all know that it should be stored in a frozen environment. If it is left at room temperature, it will melt within tens of minutes and become unpalatable, which means it loses its quality.

Therefore, when looking at the shelf life, we also need to consider the storage environment required by the food.

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Another key word in the general rules for pre-packaged food labeling is "maintaining quality". Ice cream that melts in just a few minutes at room temperature is unpalatable, but will you get sick if you eat it now? Most likely not, as a few minutes is too short for bacteria to grow in large numbers.

Therefore, "maintaining quality" refers to the unique qualities of food that do not need to be explained or have been explained, and safety and hygiene are the bottom line of food quality. Therefore, sometimes we eat expired food because its taste, aroma or some qualities that should be possessed are no longer up to standard, but it has not completely destroyed the bottom line of hygiene. With the blessing of human immunity, it does not cause obvious harm to health.

Therefore, for sellers, food that has passed its expiration date cannot be sold anymore. It is no longer a product that meets the requirements in terms of color, aroma and taste, and must be removed from the shelves. For buyers, it is best not to eat food that has passed its expiration date. It has lost its taste and may also bring health risks.

Is it okay to eat it after the expiration date?

Since the bottom line of product quality is safety and hygiene, assuming that the storage conditions are well maintained, can we eat food that has just expired safely?

If you are fine after eating expired food, it only seems fine for a short time, which means that bacteria, molds and other microorganisms have little effect, and your body has narrowly defeated this wave of foreign pathogenic microorganisms. But this victory is limited to the individual's physique. If you are a sensitive group of people with poor immunity, such as the elderly, the young, the weak and the sick, the suspense of "who will win or lose" between foreign pathogenic microorganisms and human immunity is great.

What if you have to eat it?

If throwing away these expired foods is more uncomfortable than having to go to the hospital for food poisoning, or if you are on the verge of running out of food and have to eat, then you can determine whether the expired food has actually deteriorated and try to reduce the risk of eating it.

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If the expired items are daily necessities such as rice, flour and oil, can the requirements be relaxed a bit, since they will be processed again after all?

Unopened rice and flour products can be appropriately extended to 24 months, but it should be noted that the most common contamination rice and flour are exposed to is mold . Before eating, you must carefully observe whether it is moldy and smell it for moldy odor. Many mold toxins are deadly. As long as cooking oil is opened, it begins its life of oxidation. The fatty acids in the oil will undergo oxidation reactions as the storage time increases. Lipid peroxides can react with almost all molecules or cells in the human body, and even damage DNA and cell structures.

The process of fish oil particle oxidation Source: thehealthcloud

Once you smell a rancid smell, it is a dangerous signal that the fat is rancid. These are small molecules such as aldehydes, ketones, and acids with unpleasant odors produced by the decomposition of lipid peroxides. At this time, you must never eat it.

Vacuuming is a good way to preserve food. Image source: pexels

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In addition to "rice, flour and oil", "meat, eggs and milk" are also essential items for many families.

If meat products such as sausages are vacuum packed, their shelf life will be greatly extended. If the surface of meat products becomes sticky , it is most likely caused by the proliferation of microorganisms, so you must not eat them.

Dairy products are rich in nutrients and are liquid, so they are very easy to spoil. Milk that is just opened in the morning at room temperature may go bad by the evening, so you must pay attention to the specific storage conditions of different milks.

Egg products may sometimes not have outer packaging. They are sold in large baskets by pound in supermarkets. They are agricultural products and do not have a fixed shelf life. Generally, they are fine to eat within one month of purchase. After that, the quality of eggs will usually drop by one level every week, but they are still edible. Therefore, be sure to store eggs in the refrigerator in the summer.

Of course, instead of learning how to judge whether expired food can be eaten or thrown away, and frantically testing the brink of food poisoning, it is better to think about the possibility that the purpose of setting a shelf life limit for food is to prevent you from eating food that has been stored for too long.

END

Editor: Dong Xiaoxian