I was looking around at consumeraffaris.com & found info on food expiration dates. http://www.a1usa.net/gary/expire.html

(excerpt): “Expiration Dates: What do they mean?
They don't mean as much as many people think they do. Most food is still edible after the expiration date but may not be very tasty. Most people are surprised to find out that... Stores are not legally required to remove food once the expiration date has passed. They are strictly "advisory" in nature. (And) Dating is not federally required, except for infant formula and baby food. States have varying laws. Most states require that milk and other perishables be sold before the expiration date."

The foods packed in pouches are packed the same way as MREs, which are said to last 10 yrs (or more) if not subjected to high temperatures, so the other foods should be the same, right? Here’s a site to tell you more than you ever wanted to know about MREs:
http://www.millennium-ark.net/News_Files/Food/MREs.html


DRUG EXPIRATION DATES

The Medical Letterâ on Drugs & Therapeutics had this to say about expiration dates on drugs:

(edited) “The expiration date on the manufacturer’s package is based on the stability of the drug in its original closed container. The date does not necessarily mean that the drug was found to be unstable after a longer period; it means only that real-time data or extrapolations from accelerated degradation studies indicate that the drug will still be stable at that date. The expiration date for new drugs is usually 2-3 years from the date of manufacture…. Retail pharmacists who repackage drugs, in accordance with the standards of the US Pharacopoeia (USP), label them with a “beyond-use” date, generally one year from the date the prescription is filled…

"SAFETY – The only report of human toxicity that may have been caused by chemical or physical degradation of a pharmaceutical product… was associated with the use of degraded tetracycline. Current tetracycline preparations have been reformulated with different fillers to minimize degradation and are unlikely to have this effect…

“STABILITY – … Data from the Dept. of Defence/FDA Shelf Life Extension Program, which tests the stability of drug products past their expiration date, showed that 84% of 1122 lots of 96 different drug products stored in military facilities in their unopened original containers would be expected to remain stable for an average of 57 months after their original expiration date.

“LIQUID DRUGS – … are not as stable as solid dosage forms. Suspensions are especially susceptible to freezing. Drugs in solution, particularly injectables, that have become cloudy or discolored, or show signs of precipitation should not be used. When oral drugs are in solution with dyes, however, color changes may be due to degradation of the dye and not the drug… Drugs prepared by addition of a solvent before dispensing or administration … tend to be relatively unstable in the liquid state. With ophthalmic drugs, the limiting factor may not be the stability of the drug, but the continued ability of the preservative to inhibit microbial growth.

“CONCLUSION – There are virtually no reports of toxicity from degradation products of outdated drugs. How much of their potency they retain varies with the drug and the storage conditions, especially humidity, but many drugs stored under reasonable conditions retain 90% of their potency for at least 5 years after the expiration date on the label, and sometimes much longer.”

(Sue’s note: some drugs were found to be stable for 9 to 30 years.)

Sue

That's some really top-notch information Susan. Thanks. And I was just wondering the other day about my foil pack of tunafish what the expiration date is and your site covers the coding. That's really what should be mandated - clearly recognizable dating, not some wonky year code (letter) with Julian date.

My wife is a REAL stickler for expiration dates. I didn't really think I was being more risky - just able to tolerate stale tastes better. You just gave me some ammo in that argument.... <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Ahhhaaaa! Just as I expected. Those dates are merely the pharmacutical companies way of getting us to throw away a perfectly good bottle of Advil, just because it's two months past the expiration date. Man...what a racket. But then if they didn't put a date on it..some fool would sue them cause they took a two year old Tylenol and it didn't work or something. Good information Thanks!!

It blows my mind how some people will throw away nonperishable food just because the 'expiration' date is slightly passed. I've always considered expiration dates arbitrary, and never throw away food unless I know it's bad. We have a sense of smell and taste for a reason! With all the people starving in the world, it's sickening how much perfectly good food people throw away in this country.

Don't throw anything away, if you don't want to eat it, use it for bait <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Troy

Good info!
Thanks for posting it, Susan.