Clif Bars past their expiration date

I don’t normally eat energy bars, but since the transportation system in my region seems to be nearing its collapse, I’ve been meaning to buy a case of bars and keep a couple each in my car and EDC bag as emergency chow in case I got stuck somewhere. I plan to rotate them by eating a few as snacks during my summer day hikes.

I seem to recollect that Clif Bars are a favorite among sports and preparedness folks in the US, but I wouldn’t have considered them normally, as the prices for such US products are usually exorbitant here in Europe. That is, until I found, while browsing Amazon Italy for an European equivalent, a German seller offering cases of mixed, original Clif Bars for a price not too dissimilar from that of Amazon USA, and with free shipping to boot.

The problem is that, according to the reviews of some purchasers, the Clif Bars offerd by this particular seller seem to be sold relatively near their expiration date (for example, a best by June 2018 for a bar sold in February 2018). Such drawback seems to rule out the use of these bars for an emergency stash, but I seem to remember that a few members here mentioned that they tried to eat Clif Bars well past their expiration date and found them unchanged, meaning that they keep well for a fair amount of time.

Could any member and Clif Bar user recount his experience in this regard?

Thank you very much!

Have not tried them over date, but have tried them. Wouldn't rate them higher than premium bars available in Europe.

Thanks Tjin! Which brand do you recommend based on your experience? I'm open to alternatives.

Clif bar fan here and consumer of many out dated Clif bars, up to five years beyond evpiry date, as I recall.

The only thing I noticed was that the older bars seemed to be a bit drier than the younger ones. As far as I could tell, nutrition and energy benefits seemed to be unaltered. when bike touring, fully loaded style, my rule of thumb was that a Clif bar was good for twenty miles before another snack was needed..

My stash of quick chow is typically, but not always, stored in an even temperature, away from sunlight. I am pretty sure that storage conditions are very important in food storage.

"Expiration dates" are just guarantees that the product remains unaltered in any parameters of its condition -palatability, taste, nutrition, etc. No food producer does himself any favors by putting a longer, rather than a shorter, expiration date on a product.

I wouldn't worry very much about Clif bars that are beyond their dates. My experience is that it is not dangerous or unhealthy to eat out of date bars.

If it smells bad or looks moldy or otherwise gross, don't eat it -- NB I've never seen a Clif bar that didn't look and smell appetizing.
Otherwise I wouldn't be concerned.

Don't worry about any worms or slugs. They are just added protein, great with hot sauce....

Yeah, in the US food generally is labeled with a 'best by' date, not an expiration date. That date s pretty arbitrary. I'm not a huge fan of Cliff Bars but I wouldn't hesitate to eat one a year or two past its date so long as the packaging was intact.

Well, in the good old times my father managed to try and eat the "casu marzu" (literally "spoiled cheese"), a famous Sardinian cheese that was purposely left to spoil until had maggots in it.

It was considered a delicacy, but in this modern times of food and health regulations it has been obviously outlawed for decades.

Apparently, some Sardinan farmers have a clandestine production going on, for private consumption. Wouldn't mind to try it someday.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu

Depends on your personal taste, what kind of bar and what is available. Tried a few in Italy, but no idea what the brands where.

To me cliffbars are a bit too processed. I prefer bars where you can actually see, feel and taste the texture of the ingredients, so stuff like 'eat natural' or some cold pressed bars.

if I want a smaller bar, that is quicker to digest I prefer stuff like 'Nakd'(cold pressed fruit and nuts).

Thanks hikermor, that's what I thought too.

In Europe too most of the expiration dates are of the "best by" kind. IMHO, they are mainly a way for food producers to cover their backs in case of legal problems, and to push consumers to throw away perfectly edible food in order to buy new products.

Fortunately, steps have been teken recently by local governments to reduce such waste. Now many products could be sold past their "best by" dates at a discount, provided they are appropriately labelled, and in many regions products retired from the stores must be donated to local food banks.

Of use really only for us in the UK Approved Foods often sell short and past dated items but at super prices. They are also easy to deal with.

Approved Foods UK