Food past its expiration date? You can still safely eat these 9 items

Cleaning out the fridge, tidying up the pantry: great idea. But before you toss things in the bin because they’re past their best-before date, read this article first. Because most groceries are still perfectly fine to use long after their best-before date, and throwing them away is a waste. Food past its expiration date? Don’t let THT and TGT abbreviations confuse you. Especially now that groceries are ridiculously expensive. 

THT and TGT

Let’s start at the beginning: the difference between THT and TGT. Best before (THT) means that the producer guarantees the quality up to that date. Sometimes that date is months away, and those products remain good practically forever, but there has to be a date on food products.

Look, smell and taste

The TGT date appears on fresh products, and that date is somewhat more important. How you store those products also plays an important role. Use your nose and common sense, and you’ll probably be fine. Albert Heijn introduced the look, smell and taste logo on packaging for this purpose. For some products, even the TGT date is no more than an indication of when you bought them, so there’s no need to be overly anxious about it.

Fish, chicken, meat

Don’t eat them after the TGT date? Unless you were very smart and put them in the freezer. Then they’ll keep for at least another three months. Keep your freezer reasonably tidy and defrost everything properly, and that TGT date isn’t a deadline for you.

Yogurt

The date has passed, so yogurt goes in the bin? Hold on. Look and smell it first. If the yogurt is watery and tastes bitter, it’s time to say goodbye. But you can easily eat yogurt a week or even longer after the date. That is, as long as you don’t leave it lying around on the counter for hours, but take it out of the fridge for as short a time as possible.

Cheese

Hard cheese, such as our trusty Edam, will keep for at least two months. Do you see blue spots? Cut them away generously and carry on slicing or grating. This also applies to Parmesan and other hard cheeses.

Apples and pears

In the fruit bowl, they ripen quickly and then become overripe, so you end up with mealy apples and pears that are incredibly soft. Put them in the fridge and they’ll keep for two to four weeks, and perhaps even longer. Apples that are a little wrinkly are still perfectly fine for applesauce, by the way. Add a squeeze of lemon for freshness, and you’re done.

Bananas

Not in the fridge! Once you buy them, you can keep them for up to about a week. But perhaps you deliberately wait until they’re brown so you can make banana bread with them?

Potatoes

Store them in a dark, cool place and potatoes will stay good for at least four weeks. In the light, they develop green patches, which means they’re producing solanine and therefore becoming poisonous. No joke! If your potatoes have sprouts, there’s still no problem. Just cut off the sprouts, peel the potatoes, and they’ll be as good as new.

Peanut butter

Peanut butter doesn’t care about a best-before date. If it sits untouched for longer than a year, you may sometimes see oil floating on top. Stir it in and spread away—nothing to worry about. If the peanut butter starts to taste rancid and oily, however, it should go.

Muesli, granola, cornflakes

Store them somewhere dry and dark, and your cornflakes will last a long time. If you keep them for much longer than a year, the flavor will have more or less disappeared. Taste them, and you’ll know!

Ice cream

Packaged ice creams can remain in the freezer for up to a year. Of course, that never happens in practice, but if you find a lost Magnum at the back of the freezer, there’s no need to hesitate: EAT IT!

Also read:

• Discolored ground meat: throw it away or eat it?
• 10 tips to prevent your supplies from spoiling and going moldy
• 11 food and drink rules Italians swear by

Source: AD