I don't remember who told me this "system" to check if food went bad, but it's a great one imo

1. If it looks good, smell it
2. If it smells good, taste it
3. If it tastes good, eat it

My wife goes strictly by the date, even before sometimes. Doesn't matter what it looks, smells, or tastes like, if it's at the date, it gets tossed.

Some dates she makes up, like deli meat. She gives it 3 days, and it's gone, which isy biggest irritation. Nothing worse than looking forward to a sandwich, only to find out that it all got tossed.

It's been over 30 years, I've moved on from that argument. I just try to find the stuff that's getting close, and use it up.

yogurt, cereal, UHT milk, pasta, rice, canned stuff...dried stuff...none of them expire. I once lost a yogurt (sealed) on a desktop behind some paperwork (very much not refrigerated, not advised) and once I found it a few months later...it was still good edible :D

I wish I could get my bf to believe this.

Definitely an extreme example, but within the last week I had cottage cheese that had a date on the label of 2024. It was kept in a cold part of the fridge the whole time and was not opened until I had it.

Not only was it still good, it was outright the best-tasting cottage cheese I've had.

"Expiration" dates are pure marketing, 100%. They only exist to pressure stores to restock asap for more profit to the sellers' shareholders, nothing more. 🤌🏼