What foods can be eaten without any problem after the expiry date?
All food products sold in supermarkets must have an expiry date, it is the law. If it was established to guarantee the safety of the consumer, it can also mislead him… Even to force food waste as well as consumption. Thanks to applications or alone at home, you can easily consume many so-called "expired" products. With bread, rice or egg white, it is also very easy to concoct small homemade dishes or recipes from famous cooks based on leftovers. With our tips and tricks, you will (almost) no longer need to throw away. Demonstration.
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Foods that never go bad
First, know that some foods never expire. This is the case for sugar, salt and vinegar... Find the complete list in our dedicated article. Used since the dawn of time to preserve food, they are preservatives. However, you will find an expiry date on the packaging… Forget it! Honey, the real one, miraculously produced by bees, is also a food that can be kept forever. As proof, honey has been found in Egyptian tombs that is still edible.
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Foods that ALMOST never go bad
Rice, pasta, cornstarch, flour, pulses, cereals and also cans can be eaten for a very long time after the expiry date. These products can deteriorate only in the event of an infestation of food moths. For preserves, if they start to swell (which is extremely rare), it means that they are no longer good. This mainly concerns acidic products such as tomatoes or pineapples.
Milk, frozen meat, brick soup: these foods that can be consumed after the expiry date
Condiments such as mustard, ketchup, pickles as well as all spices, bouillon cubes, powdered preparations and brick products such as soup are consumed long after the expiry date. They just lose taste, but won't be harmful if you eat them. In the case of liquid products like soup, if you come across a layer of mold, you will throw it away.
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If they are not opened, dairy products (milk, yoghurts, fresh creams and cheeses) can be eaten one to two weeks after the date, the lactic bacteria which develop there naturally fighting against the bad ones. Here are two criteria to know if they are still good: observe the packaging. If it's swollen, bacteria have grown there, and that's not a good sign. Open the product and smell it. If it smells of "goat cheese", a pungent and acid smell, it is that it has turned. Direction trash, and without regrets.
If you have scrupulously respected the cold chain, and your freezer is operating normally (no ice on the walls), frozen products can be kept for a long time after the date indicated. Between 6 and 9 months for raw fish, up to a year for raw poultry, such as fruits and vegetables. Be careful however, small frozen homemade meals keep less well than raw products packaged by manufacturers.
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Eggs, meat and raw fish: foods you can NOT eat after the expiry date
Vacuum-packed raw meats and fish and charcuterie are the favorite playground for bacteria. So watch the deadline carefully, and avoid consuming them afterwards. Again, if the packaging swells, it is because bacteria such as Salmonella, Listeria or Escherichia coli are proliferating there. Again, when you open the product, the smell and the gelatinous aspect will put you off tasting it. Same thing with eggs. To check if they are expired, remember to put them in water. If they then rise to the surface, it's heading for the trash!
⋙ How do you know if an egg is expired?
Good to know: Learn to distinguish the DLC, expiry date of consumption from the DLUO, expiry date of optimal use. The first concerns fresh, fragile products that cannot be kept for long after the date. The BBD, on the other hand, generally concerns less perishable products.
Read also :
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⋙ Anti-waste kitchen, what to do with leftovers?