4 ms·

Believing expiration dates on raw, unsealed food is silly. But for packaged food, I have to wonder if the companies are as evil as some would wish. I’ve defin

Believing expiration dates on raw, unsealed food is silly. But for packaged food, I have to wonder if the companies are as evil as some would wish. I’ve definitely noticed chips/crackers start to taste rancid not long after the expiration date. Preservatives and such do break down. Do we really want to be eating that? The manufacturers know the breakdown behavior and probably want to limit liability and negative experiences. Do safety studies take decomposing preservatives into account? (Questions, but suspect the answers are “No”)

rs999gti 2y ago
> chips/crackers start to taste rancid It's the oil/fat used on or in the chips/crackers that goes rancid. That stuff oxidizes when the package is opened.
- rolph 2y ago
  it tastes bad but wont hurt you.
- yareally 2y ago
  You can throw old tortilla chips and crackers into the air fryer and they come back out fresh.
JohnFen 2y ago
> I’ve definitely noticed chips/crackers start to taste rancid not long after the expiration date. That's because they're not expiration dates, they're "best by" dates. They're the date at which the food starts to get less tasty in various ways, but that happens much, much sooner than when the food actually becomes unsafe to eat. Manufacturers (generally) aren't lying about those dates. They really do line up with when the food is no longer as fresh-tasting as it can possibly be. At the same time, manufacturers don't mind even a little when people confuse them with expiration dates.
- anticensor 2y ago
  Why don't make it reliably expire at that date, with precision (less than a day of) tolerances?
  - JohnFen 2y ago
    Since the amount of time before food goes bad is incredibly variable and depends a ton on how it was treated after it left the manufacturer, I'm not sure that's a thing that is even possible. But it is a thing that isn't really necessary. With the vast majority of foodstuffs, it's really easy to tell whether or not they're safe to eat by observing, smelling, or tasting them.

rs999gti 2y ago

> chips/crackers start to taste rancid It's the oil/fat used on or in the chips/crackers that goes rancid. That stuff oxidizes when the package is opened.

rolph 2y ago
it tastes bad but wont hurt you.
yareally 2y ago
You can throw old tortilla chips and crackers into the air fryer and they come back out fresh.

JohnFen 2y ago

> I’ve definitely noticed chips/crackers start to taste rancid not long after the expiration date. That's because they're not expiration dates, they're "best by" dates. They're the date at which the food starts to get less tasty in various ways, but that happens much, much sooner than when the food actually becomes unsafe to eat. Manufacturers (generally) aren't lying about those dates. They really do line up with when the food is no longer as fresh-tasting as it can possibly be. At the same time, manufacturers don't mind even a little when people confuse them with expiration dates.

anticensor 2y ago
Why don't make it reliably expire at that date, with precision (less than a day of) tolerances?
- JohnFen 2y ago
  Since the amount of time before food goes bad is incredibly variable and depends a ton on how it was treated after it left the manufacturer, I'm not sure that's a thing that is even possible. But it is a thing that isn't really necessary. With the vast majority of foodstuffs, it's really easy to tell whether or not they're safe to eat by observing, smelling, or tasting them.