# Family buys/eats food with 1997 expiration date **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 7, 2018, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-buys-eats-food-with-1997-expiration-date/810186 "2018-03-07T15:50:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2018, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-buys-eats-food-with-1997-expiration-date/810186/1 "2018-03-07T15:50:38Z")
Well, this is an interesting data point for the discussion on how long foods last beyond their sell-by date. The guy thought it tasted funny but is fine. Bet all the Colorado preppers are nodding their heads, “See, we told you our stash would be alright”. > **[Family buys, eats cereal with 1997 best by date](https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/national/family-purchases-eats-decades-old-cereal-bought-from-walmart-in-colorado)** > > A Colorado family bought a box of Quaker 100% Natural Granola cereal from their local Walmart on Monday. The family later realized the printed "best by" date was February 1997, only after eating the cereal. Dennis ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2018, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-buys-eats-food-with-1997-expiration-date/810186/2 "2018-03-07T16:37:48Z")
Well, I am not answering a ‘few’ questions to read the article. Going by what you said, If there was a absolutely nothing else to eat I would eat it. It probably wouldn’t hurt you, just taste old.YMMV. When I cleaned out the back of my SUV I found a unopened box of Twinkies, I must’ve bought last summer. The sell by date was long past, Sept.2017. We ate them and they were fine. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2018, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-buys-eats-food-with-1997-expiration-date/810186/3 "2018-03-07T16:52:26Z")
A lot of canned food is fine many years after the expiration date. The texture may degrade but it’s not dangerous unless the can swells. Canned Soup can last decades. Look for swelling and throw it out. Avoid canned food with tomato. I’ve had cans of tomato paste eat through the can and leak in my pantry. Doesn’t take more than three or four years to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2018, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-buys-eats-food-with-1997-expiration-date/810186/4 "2018-03-07T18:02:40Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Well, I am not answering a ‘few’ questions to read the article. Huh, the article loaded fine for me. That said, it was about a guy who noticed that their newly purchased box of oatmeal was dated 1997 and ate some anyway. Oatmeal sounds like one of the safer things to eat that’s a couple decades old, provided it’s been kept dry and isn’t infested with bugs. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-buys-eats-food-with-1997-expiration-date/810186/5 "2018-03-07T18:16:27Z")
From Married…With Children: “Peggy, did you know this box of popcorn says to use before January 30, 1972?” “Now, Marcy, what it really says is, BEST if used before January 30, 1972!” ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2018, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-buys-eats-food-with-1997-expiration-date/810186/6 "2018-03-07T23:29:10Z")
I carry a MRE [Meal, Ready-to-Eat - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meal,_Ready-to-Eat) in the back of the Jeep, “just in case”. I found it behind an abandoned gas station in Yermo, California sometime around 1989. Lord only knows how old it was before that. 😃 EDIT: HOLY CRAP! I think this is the very place! [yermo cal - Bing](https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=8Ka8UAx2&id=2D7FFF43B2E576CBD18FAC1E7210835317F84572&thid=OIP.8Ka8UAx2fun4hFhON48BFAHaEt&mediaurl=http%3a%2f%2f4.bp.blogspot.com%2f-xFq0BAv9uik%2fUjIrMAAvYtI%2fAAAAAAAASHY%2fvIGko4d4S6o%2fs1600%2fIMG_5307.jpg&exph=917&expw=1440&q=yermo+cal&simid=608033235141398466&selectedIndex=3&ajaxhist=0) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2018, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-buys-eats-food-with-1997-expiration-date/810186/7 "2018-03-07T23:44:41Z")
I left that MRE there for reasons. I need it back now, plz. My son brought some to me in 2002. They are the bulk of my bug-out bag. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2018, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-buys-eats-food-with-1997-expiration-date/810186/8 "2018-03-07T23:51:01Z")
Dates on food mean absolutely nothing. If it looks and smells OK, then eat it, even if the date is past. If it doesn’t look or smell OK, then don’t eat it, even if it hasn’t reached its date. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-buys-eats-food-with-1997-expiration-date/810186/9 "2018-03-08T05:02:05Z")
Just to clarify: Unlike most posts of mine, every word of post #6 is DEAD SERIOUS. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-buys-eats-food-with-1997-expiration-date/810186/10 "2018-03-08T05:18:40Z")
You didnt eat that old shit did you? Dude, you shouldn’t have. You’ve made a will, right? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-buys-eats-food-with-1997-expiration-date/810186/11 "2018-03-08T06:05:05Z")
No, he’s saving it for an emergency. Anyway, it’s an MRE. How would you know if it tasted worse than usual? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-buys-eats-food-with-1997-expiration-date/810186/12 "2018-03-08T06:15:57Z")
I think the interesting part of this story is that a 20 year old box of oatmeal was on the shelf at Walmart. Plus it was accepted by the computer at checkout. How does that happen? ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-buys-eats-food-with-1997-expiration-date/810186/13 "2018-03-08T09:10:31Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > I think the interesting part of this story is that a 20 year old box of oatmeal was on the shelf at Walmart. Plus it was accepted by the computer at checkout. > > How does that happen? I remember people a few years ago were showing that certain Wal-Marts still had SNES games for sale which makes me believe if something has a UPC code it’s still valid. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-buys-eats-food-with-1997-expiration-date/810186/14 "2018-03-08T13:14:16Z")
I can understand the UPC still being valid but how was this product on the shelf? Was it sitting on that shelf for a 20 years? Did someone find it fallen behind a cabinet in the back room and put it out for sale? Did the factory somehow ship an old box they found? ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-buys-eats-food-with-1997-expiration-date/810186/15 "2018-03-08T15:08:36Z")
In the Army circa 2003, we were given a bunch of old MREs to take on a field exercise. Some were “best by 1995” and some said “1989”. All of them were close to or more than a decade past their prime at that point. I ate a couple, and they were fine. The Mars bar that came in one from the 80s crumbled into gray powder when I opened it, though. But it wasn’t vacuum sealed in a foil pouch like the rest of the food. Because the Army rotates MRE recipes from time to time, there was some interesting variety there that we didn’t have in our current stock. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-buys-eats-food-with-1997-expiration-date/810186/16 "2018-03-08T15:21:47Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > When I cleaned out the back of my SUV I found a unopened box of Twinkies, I must’ve bought last summer. The sell by date was long past, Sept.2017. We ate them and they were fine. “If you leave this Twinkie on the railing, in fifty years the rail will be completely rusted away, but that Twinkie will look perfect.” –quote from memory