My turn to rant... food bank food

[Wifezilla]

I would absolutely NEVER EVER donate expired food.

Several times a month I take very large loads of bread either at expiration date or somewhat past to the food bank.

I have specifically asked the director about the dates and she has no problem with it what so ever. As long as it isn't stale and moldy, people who are in need would rather have expired bread than NO bread.

If you are starving, being picky about your food isn't a luxury.​

 

[EweSheep]

Whats funny that my mother served everybody some canned green beans that was nine to ten months past the date and none of us got sick. My aunt would freak out if she ever finds out about it!

Whatever my Mom makes, expired foods or not, they sure taste good!

 

[cw]

boy i wonder how much less food the hungery would have if everyone threw out the food a little past the expire date instead of donating it.

that said, everyone should have accses to food not expired
and i am not saying the less fortunate dont deserve it but with this economy in the midst of taking the crap its taking lets just be thankful theres still people donating food , cause there is gonna be a whole lot more people needing it


how about we all rant about the food thats not expired but shipped from other countrys that kills people (like the tomatoes and peppers) from mexico) and why our us government lets it accross the boarder!

 

[yotetrapper]

I dont get it? I dont ever throw out canned goods no matter what the date says. I dont even read dates? I've ate canned goods that were well over 10 years old. When I was younger living on my own, I would go to my grandmothers house once a month and clean her cupboards for her. She would never eat anything even the day of the expiration date, and tended to buy much more than she could ever eat in time. I lived almost entirely off of her throwouts.

I thought these people that go to food banks go there because they need food, and can't afford it? I'm sure they are grateful for canned goods even past their "use by" date. If I were to donate food, I would do so in just the way I do it here.... using the oldest first. Why would I give away my newer food and eat my older stuff? Guess I'm just confused?

 

[EweSheep]

I dont see enough research to find out how safe are those expired food cans are. Maybe someone got a link or two about it.

 

[Leah-yes I know I'm crazy]

So just in case you didn't get a plastic bag hanging on your front door on Saturday this is a good time to interject that this week is national Scouting for food week for cubscouts and boyscouts. Anything you donate stays local.
I take extra eggs to the food bank every few weeks. According to MI law they can't accept them because I wash them in the kitchen sink not a seperate facility. But they sit in small cardboard boxes on a table outside their "official area." In exchange they save up all the nasty stuff they get with bugs in it and I feed it to the pigs or chickens.

 

[Bettacreek]

The expiration dates are actually only the time frame that the can (or bag/box/whatever) of food can be GUARANTEED to keep the same nutritional content as when it was originally canned, as long as it is still sealed. Past expiration date does not mean that it's *bad*. Even three years after the expiration date, they will still have a high nutritional content, just *possibly* not the same nutritional content as the day it was canned.

 

[Chicken Fruit]

yeah I had the understanding that so long as the seal and can are intact and not dented the contents of the food were likely to be good indefinitely. It still kinda weird me out and Iam not likely to eat something far past its date... but so far as i know they say you can eat it.

 

[MissPrissy]

Quote:
I volunteer at our local food bank. We weed out the past expiration date foods in general due to liablity issues.

However, the dates on boxes are REQUIRED by the gov't. Many food products are perfectly fine long long long past their date. Can goods are made to be good 10 years after packaging but they can't be labled that way. Most people don't know this.

It is the same with milk and other items. Do you throw out your milk carton when it reaches the date on the jug? Milk, stored in ideal conditions is good for 10 or more days after its date.

The things I would be most concerned about is boxes that certainly look old and tattered as well as cans that are dented and rusty, as well as bottle and jard with nasty crusty rusty lids.

For the most prepackaged food has a very long shelf life.

But that gives way to another issue - if the food is 'preserved' in such away to be fresh years after its purchased by date - what is it doing to your insides?

 

[Stumpy]

A lot of food is perfectly good after it's "best by" date.