Is the outdated food in my cupboard safe to eat? Do I really need to throw away food that is past it’s “best buy” date? These are age-old questions that are further aggravated by the fact the most food pantries and food banks will not accept outdated canned and packaged goods.
I first wrote about this dilemma back in 2015 (link below) and to the best of my knowledge, nothing much has changed. I still stand by my premise that best-buy and sell-by dates are mostly a CYA imposed by food producers.
There are some exceptions of course: meats, deli products, certain dairy products, and tomato-based canned goods to name just a few. I also know from personal experience that packaged dry goods such as cereals and crackers can easily become rancid and inedible over time. All the more reason why proper food storage conditions and proper re-packaging are necessary if you want your food to be viable for years if not decades.
All of this and more is covered in my eBook, Prepper’s Guide to Food Storage which, for a limited time, you can get for free on Amazon.