# Does bacon really expire? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 14, 2010, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418 "2010-03-14T03:27:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418/21 "2010-03-15T16:35:43Z")
I admire your fortitude in accepting that food that makes the dog vomit, but that she will not refuse to re-eat is not necessarily inedible. I admire it in much the same way that I might admire the impeccable French accent of someone claiming to be Napoleon, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418/22 "2010-03-15T16:40:45Z")
Bacon never expires … it only pines for the fjords. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418/23 "2010-03-15T17:38:50Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > We wound up not having time for any experimentation, as my time was taken up by slicing up and French-toastifying some homemade cinnamon raisin bread with a Grand Marnier-flavored custard… and every time I looked in the direction of the meat drawer, my arteries whimpered in terror. Your arteries are ok with _custard_, but not bacon? I’d have a serious talk with them. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418/24 "2010-03-15T18:22:40Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > I admire your fortitude in accepting that food that makes the dog vomit, but that she will not refuse to re-eat is not necessarily inedible. I admire it in much the same way that I might admire the impeccable French accent of someone claiming to be Napoleon, for example. Arguably, that food is _ **doubly** _ edible. It’s a sliding scale, to be sure. If she keeps it down but farts copiously, I wouldn’t serve it to company, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418/25 "2010-03-15T18:42:06Z")
> [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > Your arteries are ok with _custard_, but not bacon? I’d have a serious talk with them. Oh no, they were wincing from the custard (which wasn’t that toxic… the recipe called for half-and-half and the closest I had was nonfat milk), and they were afraid the bacon would finish the job 🙂 [Grand Marnier French Toast](http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Grand-Marnier-French-Toast-715). ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418/26 "2010-03-15T18:46:43Z")
I used to get sick now and again with stomach ailments, like many people do from time to time. Then one day I watched a report on a news show about food safety/spoilage and how common mild food poisoning is, and how its symptoms are often mistakenly attributed to a contagious illness. The report included a food safety expert doing bacteria counts on refrigerated food stored past the recommended amount of time. The results were startling. Cooked pasta stored for 7 days in the refrigerator had unsafe levels of bacteria, for example. Now, I follow guidelines like [these](http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/storagetimes.html) from the FDA, and I can’t remember the last time I got sick to my stomach. If a food item is past the “use by” date, I throw it out. No exceptions. My mantra with respect to food is: “When in doubt, throw it out.” No old food item is worth getting sick, and you can’t always tell that food is spoiled just going by the smell. I’d have to be starving before I ate a “grayish” slab of bacon. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418/27 "2010-03-15T18:47:31Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > We wound up not having time for any experimentation, as my time was taken up by slicing up and French-toastifying some homemade cinnamon raisin bread with a Grand Marnier-flavored custard… and every time I looked in the direction of the meat drawer, my arteries whimpered in terror. Last two times I made French toast, I fried up some bacon first and re-used the same pan. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418/28 "2010-03-15T18:55:18Z")
_Old bacon never expires, it just slowly FDAs away._ ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418/29 "2010-03-15T20:46:41Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > I bought bacon in December. Then we couldn’t prepare it for various reasons. > > I wanted to cook it tomorrow morning but the package says “prepare or freeze by February 10”. > > Does the stuff _really_ expire or are they covering their backsides? I mean, it’s so loaded with salt and nitrites… > > This is the standard American streaky bacon in a half-pound package, and it has not been opened. All meat, even shot up with formaldehyde (corpses in coffins), will rot eventually if exposed to aerobic bacteria. Bacon is no exception. If it smells vinegary, chuck that pig in the trash. Your digestive system will thank you. Trust me. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418/30 "2010-03-15T20:58:33Z")
If you can’t eat a whole pound before the expiration date, freeze it in usable portions. I freeze a pound separated into two portions. When I’m ready to cook, I just fry the frozen bacon slowly, until it can be separated. Funky bacon is gross! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418/31 "2010-03-16T05:53:17Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Oh no, they were wincing from the custard (which wasn’t that toxic… the recipe called for half-and-half and the closest I had was nonfat milk), and they were afraid the bacon would finish the job 🙂 > > [Grand Marnier French Toast](http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Grand-Marnier-French-Toast-715). ooo, that sounds really good. I wonder If I’ve still got that sandwhich bread in the freezer. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418/32 "2010-03-16T12:00:26Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > _Old bacon never expires, it just slowly FDAs away._ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418/33 "2010-03-16T13:44:23Z")
> [@WarmNPrickly](#): > > It should be just fine if it hasn’t been opened and has been refrigerated. I don’t think you can necessarily tell if food is bad or not by the smell, but if it smells bad it sure isn’t going to taste any better. > > I wouldn’t be concerned about your bacon at all. I agree. I wish people would stop saying that food safety can be judged by appearance or smell - they simply are not reliable indicators, as some of the things that can make food stinky are harmless and some of the things that can make food harmful are not stinky. ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418/34 "2010-03-16T14:05:01Z")
As the OP started by saying > [@](#): > > standard American streaky bacon in a half-pound package I got to wondering what happens to the rest of the bacon in the US? I recently visited Florida and all you could get was streaky bacon, in the UK we have back, middle, streaky and possibly other varieties. What happens to the rest of the bacon in the US and the rest of the pig? ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418/35 "2010-03-16T14:17:24Z")
> [@robby](#): > > Then one day I watched a report on a news show about food safety/spoilage and how common mild food poisoning is, and how its symptoms are often mistakenly attributed to a contagious illness. The report included a food safety expert doing bacteria counts on refrigerated food stored past the recommended amount of time. The results were startling. Cooked pasta stored for 7 days in the refrigerator had unsafe levels of bacteria, for example. Those germ hunters on morning television shows and the like are a crock of shit. They find bacteria everywhere and yet for some reason no one is getting very sick. Now they are trying to blame an occasional tummy ache on it? If your immune system is so weak that these daily exposures are making you sick you either need to expose your system more to get it to adapt or live in a bubble. I’m of the opinion that there is such a thing as too sanitary. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418/36 "2010-03-16T15:03:16Z")
> [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](#): > > As the OP started by saying I got to wondering what happens to the rest of the bacon in the US? > > I recently visited Florida and all you could get was streaky bacon, in the UK we have back, middle, streaky and possibly other varieties. What happens to the rest of the bacon in the US and the rest of the pig? If I’m not mistaken, we call back bacon “Canadian bacon.” (And we’re naturally suspicious of it for that reason :D;)). Seriously, though, it’s a niche product here. The only mass-market role for it that I know of is in the McDonald’s Egg McMuffin. I don’t know what we do with that part of the pig. Presumably we’re not sending it to Canada. Perhaps we just eat it cooked as pork loin, rather than cured? ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418/37 "2010-03-18T04:11:55Z")
> [@WarmNPrickly](#): > > Those germ hunters on morning television shows and the like are a crock of shit. They find bacteria everywhere and yet for some reason no one is getting very sick. Now they are trying to blame an occasional tummy ache on it? If your immune system is so weak that these daily exposures are making you sick you either need to expose your system more to get it to adapt or live in a bubble. I’m of the opinion that there is such a thing as too sanitary. It wasn’t a morning TV show. It was either _Dateline_ or _60 Minutes_, FWIW. Anyway, I’m well aware that bacteria is everywhere. However, there’s a difference between the typical bacteria you find on people’s hands, doorknobs, etc. and the bacteria present due to food spoilage. And the whole point of the show is that people get sick all the time; they just blame it on an illness instead of recurring mild food poisoning from eating spoiled food. As I said, I haven’t had a stomach ailment in years, and I rarely get sick. (I haven’t taken a sick day in well over a year.) I attribute this partly to throwing out old food, and not taking a chance with things like eating bacon a month past its “use by” date. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418/38 "2010-03-18T17:34:41Z")
Dateline, 60 minutes and the like are really no different from the morning news programs. Occasionally 60 minutes goes old-style and does an in depth investigation, but most of their stuff is the usual alarmist crap. I’ll bet they never even bothered to interview dumpster divers for at least some counter point. No, they likely only interviewed alarmist doctors that think sterility is king. There are plenty that don’t agree. You may attribute your lack of tummy aches to throwing away perfectly good food, but that doesn’t make it fact. Certainly, the fact that you haven’t taken a sick day due to a cold or flu is entirely unrelated. I have never in my life had food poisoning, and I break every hypochondriac rule in the book. So I counter you anecdote with mine. Yay for anecdotes! ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418/39 "2010-03-19T07:01:43Z")
> [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](#): > > As the OP started by saying I got to wondering what happens to the rest of the bacon in the US? > > I recently visited Florida and all you could get was streaky bacon, in the UK we have back, middle, streaky and possibly other varieties. What happens to the rest of the bacon in the US and the rest of the pig? Isn’t that odd, though? I mean, given that streaky bacon is the cheapest and probably unhealthiest kind? Oh hell, now I want bacon. Tangent: doing a Saturday job as a schoolgirl in the 1970s, I sold various cheeses, pâtés, and types of bacon. One customer confused me by asking for “Irish Wiltshire”. Ahem, with respect, sir, WTF? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418/40 "2010-03-19T09:45:33Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > If I’m not mistaken, we call back bacon “Canadian bacon.” (And we’re naturally suspicious of it for that reason :D;)). Seriously, though, it’s a niche product here. The only mass-market role for it that I know of is in the McDonald’s Egg McMuffin. > > I don’t know what we do with that part of the pig. Presumably we’re not sending it to Canada. Perhaps we just eat it cooked as pork loin, rather than cured? Thanks for the reply. So it seems that streaky is all you can get in the US in general then. As **Celyn** pointed out, this seems odd to those of us in the UK as streaky is generally considered bad for you on the whole. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bacon-really-expire/532418.md?page=3)