# What is the oldest food in your house? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 29, 2013, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-food-in-your-house/659652 "2013-05-29T19:53:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-food-in-your-house/659652/21 "2013-05-30T13:42:28Z")
We weren’t allowed to bring any foodstuffs from New Zealand to England so there’s nothing ridiculously old, but I did recently clear out the spices drawer and threw out some stuff that was five years old and had definitely lost its pizzazz. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-food-in-your-house/659652/22 "2013-05-30T14:13:56Z")
I’ve got some red pepper flakes that I bought as an undergrad in 1991. But there essentially decorative now, nice green glass bottle… Actual food that I might eat, that would be some escabeche I made in 2008. ---
**Author:** ![lokij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@lokij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lokij)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-food-in-your-house/659652/23 "2013-05-30T14:24:37Z")
It would have to be a sealed mason jar of pear preserves my grandmother put up. I keep it for sentimental reasons, if I ever eat it it’ll be the last thing I eat that she prepared for me. It would be about ten years old. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-food-in-your-house/659652/24 "2013-05-30T14:34:32Z")
I have some spices that are probably from around 2005 or 2006. On a slightly related note, the garage in the house I had been renting had a bunch of old-timey stuff. One of the things sitting along the wall was a really old tin of lighter fluid, marked 39 cents or something, right on the label like they used to do. I needed something flammable, and by golly, the stuff was still good! The thing had to be from the 50’s. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2013, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-food-in-your-house/659652/25 "2013-05-30T14:45:49Z")
> [@TexCat](#): > > A related question, what’s the oldest thing in your fridge? My aunt pulled a beer out for me that was left over from about 4 years ago. It was still drinkable. There’s such a thing as beer that’s not drinkable? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-food-in-your-house/659652/26 "2013-05-30T14:46:16Z")
> [@lokij](#): > > It would have to be a sealed mason jar of pear preserves my grandmother put up. I keep it for sentimental reasons, if I ever eat it it’ll be the last thing I eat that she prepared for me. It would be about ten years old. Another sentimental saver. I thought you were going to say, “If I ever eat it, it’ll be the last thing I ever eat!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-food-in-your-house/659652/27 "2013-05-30T14:48:24Z")
I have a cake in the shape of a cradle (entirely made of icing/frosting) that lives in a cupboard. It was given to me when I was born, in 1986. I snatched a tiny bit off it recently and it still tastes fine. I’m not entirely sure why it hasn’t gone off. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-food-in-your-house/659652/28 "2013-05-30T15:55:42Z")
A sugar cookie mix one of my kids gave me for Christmas is about ten years old. It came with a cookie cutter in the shape of the Space Needle. If I ever get a rolling pin, I might fix these cookies. Why do they call it a rolling “pin” anyway? There’s nothing pin-like about it. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-food-in-your-house/659652/29 "2013-05-30T16:31:09Z")
I went to a convention in New Orleans in 1982. I bought a raffle ticket and won a nice basket. One of the items in the basket was a bottle of Tabasco sauce. Still on the shelf. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-food-in-your-house/659652/30 "2013-05-30T16:34:38Z")
My scotch. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-food-in-your-house/659652/31 "2013-05-30T16:53:39Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > There’s such a thing as beer that’s not drinkable? > > 😛 Yep. When my Grandpa died a few years ago we were cleaning out his fridge and found still-cold cans of beer in the back. With pull tabs. The beer? Budweiser Light. Not Bud Light - Budweiser Light. It was not drinkable, but I’m not sure how much of that had to do with age. ---
**Author:** ![Euryphaessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Euryphaessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euryphaessa)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-food-in-your-house/659652/32 "2013-05-30T17:55:47Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > A sugar cookie mix one of my kids gave me for Christmas is about ten years old. It came with a cookie cutter in the shape of the Space Needle. If I ever get a rolling pin, I might fix these cookies. > > Why do they call it a rolling “pin” anyway? There’s nothing pin-like about it. I do not own a rolling pin. I use a big bottle of Worcestershire sauce when I have to roll anything out. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-food-in-your-house/659652/33 "2013-05-30T19:04:05Z")
I bet I have some spices from my mothers spice cabinet that is as old as I am. And I am 52. I don’t use them. Things like Tumeric. ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-food-in-your-house/659652/34 "2013-05-30T23:11:20Z")
My mother in law still has some boxes in her pantry, Jello, baking soda, spices, stuff like that, that have those purple-dye prices stamped on them. That’s pretty old. I throw them away when I come across them, have for many years, but they still keep popping up. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-food-in-your-house/659652/35 "2013-05-30T23:18:16Z")
In my freezer I have some mulberries I picked last summer. They are on schedule to be made into a pie soon, since the next berry season is not far away. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-food-in-your-house/659652/36 "2013-05-31T01:59:17Z")
> [@TexCat](#): > > A related question, what’s the oldest thing in your fridge? “It might be meat…it might be cake.” - George Carlin ---
**Author:** ![listedmia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e0b2c6/32.png) [@listedmia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/listedmia)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-food-in-your-house/659652/37 "2013-05-31T06:28:25Z")
There is a bottle of Certo fruit pectin (for making jams and jellies) in our cabinet that has been here since my boyfriend moved in 7 years ago. It says “For best results, use before JUN 78”. It’s still here because it’s a cool bottle. I don’t think anybody’s planning on making jelly with it any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-food-in-your-house/659652/38 "2013-06-02T20:26:29Z")
Oh, I have a bottle of Liquid Smoke and a bottle of sesame seed oil that have been on the refrigerator door shelf for at least 15 years. Last used in making venison jerky. I should thrown those bottles out, but I just know if I do, I’ll need that stuff the next day…also on the shelf: a bottle of vintage Tweed cologne in the original box, from my aunt, dating from…the 50’s? Still as good as ever! I use it a lot in the hot summer. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-food-in-your-house/659652/39 "2013-06-02T21:03:29Z")
I’ve had a couple bags of MREs since 1989. I don’t know how old they are 'cause I\* found them in an abandoned building out in the desert! \* 😃 I keep em in the Jeep in case (when) it strands me in the middle of nowhere. As incentive to fix it or start walkin’! I’ve got a 6-pack of Coke Classic in 8 oz 1994 Atlanta Olympics glass bottles. I’ve got little bottles of spices that I suspect are from the 60’s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-food-in-your-house/659652.md?page=1)