What happens if you eat food that is one month past its expiration date?

When we encounter slightly expired food, we would feel a little pity to throw it away, so we may eat it hesitantly...

In most cases, we don’t have diarrhea as expected, but find that there is nothing wrong.

So, can we eat expired food? Is it really okay to eat it?

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What does the shelf life of food guarantee?

Usually, we judge whether the food we buy is expired mainly by looking at the shelf life on the packaging.

Article 99 of the Food Safety Law, which was passed and implemented in 2009, clearly states: "Shelf life" refers to the period during which pre-packaged food maintains its quality under the storage conditions specified on the label.

Image source: pixabay

There are two key words in this definition, one is "specified storage conditions". Simply put, storage conditions are the restrictions on the food storage environment in addition to the time dimension. The shelf life of ice cream is usually 6 months to 2 years. We all know that it should be stored in a frozen environment. If it is left at room temperature, it will melt within tens of minutes and become unpalatable, which means it loses its quality.

Therefore, when looking at the shelf life, we also need to consider the storage environment required by the food.

GB 7718-2011 National Food Safety Standard General Rules for Labelling of Prepackaged Foods

Another key word is "maintaining quality". Ice cream that melts after being left at room temperature for dozens of minutes is unpalatable, but will you get sick if you eat it now?

Probably not. A few dozen minutes is too short a time and the bacteria may not have time to grow in large numbers.

Therefore, "maintaining quality" refers to the unique qualities of food that do not need to be explained or have already been explained, and safety and hygiene are the bottom line of food quality .

So sometimes the expired food we eat may be because its taste, aroma or some other qualities that it should have no longer meet the standards, but it has not completely destroyed the last hygiene bottom line, and with the blessing of human immunity, it does not cause obvious harm to health.

Therefore, for sellers, food that has passed its expiration date cannot be sold anymore. It is no longer a product that meets the requirements in terms of color, aroma and taste and must be removed from the shelves.

For buyers, it is best not to eat food that has passed its expiration date because it will not taste the same and may also bring health risks (not to mention eating expired food that has been there for a month).

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Is it okay to eat it after the expiration date?

Since the bottom line of product quality is safety and hygiene, assuming that the storage conditions are well maintained, can we eat food that has just expired safely?

Never develop such bad habits.

It's okay to eat food that has just expired, but it only seems okay for a short time, which means that the effect of bacteria, mold and other microorganisms is relatively small, and your body has narrowly defeated this wave of foreign pathogenic microorganisms.

However, this victory is limited to the individual's physical condition. If it is a sensitive group of people with poor immunity, such as the elderly, the young, the weak and the sick, the suspense of "who will win or lose" between foreign pathogenic microorganisms and human immunity will be great.

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What if I have to eat?

If throwing away these expired foods is more uncomfortable than having to go to the hospital for food poisoning, or if you are on the verge of running out of food and have to eat, then you can determine whether the expired food has actually deteriorated and try to reduce the risk of eating it.

If the expired items are daily necessities such as **rice, flour and oil**, can the requirements be relaxed a bit, since they will be processed again after all?

The shelf life of unopened rice and flour products can be extended to 24 months, but it should be noted that the contamination that rice and flour are most likely to be exposed to is mold. Before eating, you must carefully observe whether it is moldy and smell it for any musty smell. Many mold toxins are deadly.

As soon as cooking oil is opened, it begins its life of oxidation. The fatty acids in the oil will undergo oxidation reactions as the storage time increases, and lipid peroxides can react with almost all molecules or cells in the human body, and even damage DNA and cell structures.

The oxidation process of fish oil particles. Image source: thehealthcloud

Once you smell a rancid smell, it is a dangerous signal that the fat is rancid. These are small molecules such as aldehydes, ketones, and acids with unpleasant odors produced by the decomposition of lipid peroxides. At this time, you must never eat it .

Vacuuming is a good way to preserve food. Image source: pexels

In addition to "rice, flour and oil", " meat, eggs and milk" are also essential items for many families. If meat products such as sausages are vacuum packed, the shelf life will be greatly extended. If the surface of meat products is sticky, it is most likely caused by the massive reproduction of microorganisms, then you must not eat it.

Dairy products are rich in nutrients and are liquid, so they are very easy to spoil. Milk that is just opened in the morning at room temperature may go bad by the evening, so you must pay attention to the specific storage conditions of different milks.

Egg products may sometimes not have outer packaging. They are sold in large baskets by pound in supermarkets. They are agricultural products and do not have a fixed shelf life. Generally, they are fine to eat within one month of purchase. After that, the quality of eggs will usually drop by one level every week, but they are still edible, so be sure to store eggs in the refrigerator in the summer.

Of course, instead of learning how to judge whether expired food can be eaten or thrown away, and frantically testing the brink of food poisoning, it is better to think about the possibility that the purpose of setting a shelf life limit for food is to prevent you from eating food that has been stored for too long.

END

Audit expert: Wang Guoyi, Postdoctoral Fellow in Food Safety

Tadpole Musical Notation original article, please indicate the source when reprinting

Editor/Heart and Paper