h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Chorizo.

Just discovered it in my fridge. Shrink wrapped, unopened.

Quite a bit out of date. For now, we don't need to say just HOW much do we.

How much out of date would YOU eat it?

I REALLY fancy it baked with potatoes and tomatoes.

PP.

How far out of date days months or longer

Oh, months.

PP.

I have sort of solved the problem by burning it.

So rescued the situation by using the other half.

Tasted a bit that I hadn't burned. It tasted ok. Sweeter than expected but it is in a sauce made from tomatoes and a bit of mango chutney.

PP.

If you survive let us know

Chorizo is a type of cured pork product, isn't it? Curing is supposed to extend the usable life of meats.My mother disregard the "sell by" dates, and none of us were harmed----we think

They're usually hung for a whole lot of months before they're ready to eat, anyway. Between the salt and the drying, they're pretty well-preserved.

In general, I'd go few days over the best buy date for yoghurt, a month over for beer, a year over for tinned food, but for meat I'd throw it out when it reaches a day before the best by date.

I go a day or 2 over the date on yoghurts and most chilled foods. Eggs a week or more.

Biscuits and bars never last long enough unless its one that escaped from a multi pack in the back of the cupboard.

If it looks okay, smells not too bad, and tastes okay then I would eat the rest of it.

Came across this on the web from a similarly posed question:

"Cured meats like chorizo are hung for months to give them their flavour. They will last months in the fridge, months past their 'best by' date"

Three hours so far and all is well.

Over the weekend I used eggs that were a month past the use by date. I keep eggs in the fridge but use them brought up to room temperature. Smelled ok. Scrambled well. Tasted fine.

PP.

My rule of thumb is that if it, a) smells okay and b) is not a sort of bluey-green colour then it's okay to eat, unless it's Stilton, in which case the reverse holds true.

I made it through the night.

7 month out of date chorizo is absolutely fine.

PP.

I've eaten 3-year out of date Branston Pickle and survived.

Word of advice: when visiting elderly relatives, always check the labels...

<BB<

PP

another of couple of days before you can be sure

When my mother-in-law died, we went through her food cupboards and threw some stuff out for my father-in-law. These included a catering-size tin of mandarin oranges which was 30 years past its best-by date.

Unverifiable attestations on the interweb:


"I REMEMBER SEEING A PROGRAM ON BRITISH TELLY ONCE SOME TIME BACK SOME ONE FOUND A CASE OF CORNED BEEF THAT WAS FROM JUST OVER A HUNDRED YEARS AGO FROM THE RATIONS OF SOME WAR CAN NOT REMEBER WICH ONE BUT A CAN WAS OPENED AND EATEN AND THERE WAS NO DIFFERENCE AND NO ONE GOT ILL ..."

"I remember being issued canned rations in the early 1980s that were canned in the early 1950s".

"I ate a can of chilli that was 12 years PAST it's expiration date. Tasted not as good as fresh, but no ill effects."

"The steamboat Bertrand was heavily laden with provisions when it set out on
the Missouri River in 1865 .... The boat snagged and swamped under the weight, sinking to the
bottom of the river. It was found a century later, under 30 feet of silt a little north of Omaha, Neb.

Among the canned food items retrieved from the Bertrand in 1968 were brandied
peaches, oysters, plum tomatoes, honey, and mixed vegetables. In 1974,
chemists at the National Food Processors Association (NFPA) analyzed the
products for bacterial contamination and nutrient value. Although the food
had lost its fresh smell and appearance, the NFPA chemists detected no
microbial growth and determined that the foods were as safe to eat as they
had been when canned more than 100 years earlier.

The nutrient values varied depending upon the product and nutrient. NFPA
chemists Janet Dudek and Edgar Elkins report that significant amounts of
vitamins C and A were lost. But protein levels remained high, and all calcium
values "were comparable to today's products."

NFPA chemists also analyzed a 40-year-old can of corn found in the basement
of a home in California. Again, the canning process had kept the corn safe
from contaminants and from much nutrient loss. In addition, Dudek says, the
kernels looked and smelled like recently canned corn. ..."

the last one has a reference of sorts: History of canned foods by Dale Blumenthal interweb somewhere.

The plot thickens:

"The Government food watchdog is to launch an investigation into salami, chorizo, pastrami and other exotic sausages after an investigation found that one in eight salamis contained undeclared horse or donkey meat."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1432017/Horse-meat-found-in-salami-and-pastrami.html

Donkey?

I ate Eyore!

PP.