# On the subject of extremely expired mustard **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [February 12, 2023, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-extremely-expired-mustard/979649 "2023-02-12T06:00:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-extremely-expired-mustard/979649/21 "2023-02-13T01:16:27Z")
I’m no expert, but I think it’s ok. mmm ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-extremely-expired-mustard/979649/22 "2023-02-13T01:27:04Z")
People are justifiably vigilant about mayonnaise, but the fact is that **homemade mayo** _ **with raw egg** _ is a completely different animal than commercial mayonnaise. Until not that long ago, jars of commercial mayo didn’t even tell you to refrigerate them - they just said “best refrigerated after opening”. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-extremely-expired-mustard/979649/23 "2023-02-13T02:54:27Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Why the hell do we put tomato sauce on things containing meat? Prolly because ketchup didn’t start an a tomato based product. > **[Mushroom ketchup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushroom_ketchup)** > > Mushroom ketchup is a style of ketchup that is prepared with mushrooms as its primary ingredient. Originally, ketchup in the United Kingdom was prepared with mushrooms as a primary ingredient, instead of tomato, the main ingredient in contemporary preparations of ketchup. Historical preparations involved packing whole mushrooms into containers with salt. It is used as a condiment and may be used as an ingredient in the preparation of other sauces and other condiments. Several brands of mushroom k... ---
**Author:** ![knoodler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ccd318/32.png) [@knoodler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knoodler)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-extremely-expired-mustard/979649/24 "2023-02-13T03:31:40Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > What kind of mayo was it? Did you have the lid on tight? It was Signature Select, a store brand sold at Safeway. I’ve bought the same brand many times without any problems. I used maybe 2-3 tablespoons after opening it, and the lid was secure. It was in my fridge about two weeks after I last used it. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-extremely-expired-mustard/979649/25 "2023-02-13T04:13:45Z")
As opposed to used food? (Sorry, couldn’t resist; my uncle, who died recently, always referred to those day-old bread stores as “the used bread store.”) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-extremely-expired-mustard/979649/26 "2023-02-13T04:15:09Z")
Yeesht, I hope that tastes better than it looks. I have never liked ketchup and can detect it in food in microscopic amounts; coffee, too. However, I like BBQ sauce and salsa, which have many of the same ingredients, just in different proportions. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-extremely-expired-mustard/979649/27 "2023-02-13T14:43:15Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > my uncle, who died recently, always referred to those day-old bread stores as “the used bread store.” I thought I was the only one who did that! ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-extremely-expired-mustard/979649/28 "2023-02-13T15:19:45Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > When it comes to food safety, whenever there is any doubt, there is no doubt. Even a miniscule risk of food poisoning isn’t worth it. If you can afford new food, buy new food. Hard disagree. Why waste food, and lose access to something delicious if it’s still good? I would eat the old-but-not-previously-opened mustard without any qualms. If it looked or smelled funny I would toss it, but it would really surprise me to open it and discover that it looked or smelled funny. Of course, I also sometimes eat things that I know will disagree with me (not because they have gone bad, but just because I’m a little lactose intolerant, or whatever) if they are delicious enough or I am hungry enough. When I visited Hawaii I bought a large bottle of fresh passion fruit juice that rather obviously caused some digestive issues, and ended up drinking the whole bottle. And I’d do it again. Well worth it. Damn, that stuff was good. But again, mustard has nothing in it to spoil, it’s too acidic to support botulism, and I’d assume it’s perfectly fine. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-extremely-expired-mustard/979649/29 "2023-02-13T15:23:24Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Nearly seven years ago! But the jar had been tightly sealed and it looked, smelled, and tasted just fine. Well, you didn’t get sick, either, so it looks like the mustard is fine. I think the key was that it was sealed, so you may as well use it. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-extremely-expired-mustard/979649/30 "2023-02-13T17:50:49Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Seriously, archaeologists have found honey that is thousands of years old and still good. Yep, and yet our insane desire for closure (?) has “Best by” dates even on honey. And on calcium carbonate tablets, which apparently are going to turn back into oysters… The numbers on the amount of food wasted in this country because of stupid BB dates are depressing. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-extremely-expired-mustard/979649/31 "2023-02-13T23:07:31Z")
> [@phs3](#): > > Yep, and yet our insane desire for closure (?) has “Best by” dates even on honey. And on calcium carbonate tablets, which apparently are going to turn back into oysters… On that subject, the most amazing thing I’ve seen “best by” dates on is … bottled water! I think the presumption is that bottled water is only good for two years. I wonder what they think is going to happen to the water after that? I suppose theoretically there’s some possibility of chemicals leeching from the plastic bottles. IIRC this is due to some obscure law that products intended for human consumption must carry an expiry date no matter what they are. This seems really counterproductive because no distinction is made between expiry dates that really matter and those that totally do not. Like my extremely expired mustard. It’s Maille l’Ancienne, BTW. Glad that it turned out to be just fine, because it’s not the cost of the mustard that concerned me, but whether this particular one would be readily available. Grey Poupon Dijon, for instance, can be hard to find. Maille Dijon isn’t as good, but their l’Ancienne is great for things like Charcuteries. [![](https://images.ctfassets.net/8xaf2jrhnd49/34ZQabmWS7EKXTvCflchDV/3aa199bb9622711b505dc2addcfa2f55/Maille_Moutarde_a_l_Ancienne __215g__ 3_.jpg?w=1800&q=50) ](https://images.ctfassets.net/8xaf2jrhnd49/34ZQabmWS7EKXTvCflchDV/3aa199bb9622711b505dc2addcfa2f55/Maille_Moutarde_a_l_Ancienne __215g__ 3_.jpg?w=1800&q=50) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-extremely-expired-mustard/979649/32 "2023-02-13T23:13:02Z")
In some cases, “expiry dates” are used for stock rotation. As for bottled water being labeled things like “gluten free”, that simply means that it was bottled in a plant that does not process gluten-containing foods. Like peanut allergies, that’s important for some people to know. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-extremely-expired-mustard/979649/33 "2023-02-13T23:56:25Z")
Not required per [https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/food-product-dating](https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/food-product-dating) except on infant formula, and they should know. Note that unless stores push back, there’s zero incentive–in fact, negative incentive–for manufacturers to make the dates any longer than they have to. Of course for very perishable items they want them to be realistic; but for an awful lot of stuff, it is, as others have noted, just an excuse to sell more product. A couple of months ago I asked our cleaning person to clean the fridge. I meant just to pull stuff out and wipe down the shelves; instead, I came home to a half-empty fridge, because she’d thrown away all the condiments that were past date! OK, some of them probably had it coming, but most were fine. Not her fault. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2023, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-extremely-expired-mustard/979649/34 "2023-02-16T04:08:43Z")
From the USDA link: > In an effort to reduce food waste, it is important that consumers understand that the dates applied to food are for quality and not for safety. Food products are safe to consume past the date on the label, and regardless of the date, consumers should evaluate the quality of the food product prior to its consumption. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-extremely-expired-mustard/979649.md?page=1)