# Quick advice needed re tofu sell-by date
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-advice-needed-re-tofu-sell-by-date/415727
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 15, 2007, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-advice-needed-re-tofu-sell-by-date/415727 "2007-08-15T20:38:14Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2007, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-advice-needed-re-tofu-sell-by-date/415727/1 "2007-08-15T20:38:14Z")
I have a package of extra-firm tofu that I want to fry up in tonight’s stir-fry. But we bought it quite some time ago and on the package it says “Use by July 26 2007”. I opened it up and it looks and smells like normal. Any reason I shouldn’t use it?
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### Author:  [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2007, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-advice-needed-re-tofu-sell-by-date/415727/2 "2007-08-15T21:25:10Z")
I don’t know if tofu turns into poison a few weeks past the “use by” date however since a package is about $1-2, I would probably ditch it and get some fresh, why worry over something that small?
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### Author:  [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2007, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-advice-needed-re-tofu-sell-by-date/415727/3 "2007-08-15T21:35:19Z")
Food that looks and smells fine is, generally speaking, fine. Especially food that you’re planning to cook anyway.
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### Author:  [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2007, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-advice-needed-re-tofu-sell-by-date/415727/4 "2007-08-15T21:36:39Z")
Because 1) I don’t like to waste food if it’s perfectly good to eat and 2) I don’t have the time or the energy to pack up all three of my kids to go to the grocery store just for one package of tofu. So if the answer were that it was unsafe to eat, we’d have made something different for dinner.
Thanks for the super-informative response, though, **Valgard**.
I asked one of my vegetarian friends and she told me that with tofu, the sell-by is more of a freshness thing and that if it smells/looks okay, it’s probably safe to use. So it’s frying up right now. Hopefully we all survive.
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### Author:  [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2007, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-advice-needed-re-tofu-sell-by-date/415727/5 "2007-08-15T21:50:46Z")
In my experience, bad tofu gets yellowish color and a sour-milk sort of odor. If it didn’t smell like that, you’ll probably live.