Some might find this entertaining or gross.

**Rebookie** · 11-01-2009, 11:42 AM

heh.

The other day my good friend pointed out that I had a sour cream tub in my fridge a month over its exp date.. I opened it smelled it and checked for anything gross growing in it.. There wasn't, so I put it back in the fridge. LOL I looked at my friend as he was looking at me in horror, and asked "What's it gonna do? Get more sour??" LOL

He was horrified. =D

I do that with stuff.. If there isn't mold on it or it's not smelling rancid. I'll eat it. =D

I wasn't raised that way either. If my mother sees a left over she will shriek in horror. LOL

**MyMelody** · 11-01-2009, 11:50 AM

I am pretty much the same way unless I see green mold growing on it. Sometimes, when in doubt and I feel besieged by germ paranoia, I may scrape off just the top layer of sour cream, put it back in the fridge, and keep on truckin'.

Now, once I was over at some friends' apartment, and they made brownies with margarine out of a tub that they'd just scraped around the mold growing inside, and I have to draw the line there.

**Rebookie** · 11-01-2009, 11:51 AM

If I see mold, the food and I are over! LOL It gets trashed.

**madhen** · 11-01-2009, 12:33 PM

I'll use it if it is a week over, but that is about my limit, probably because of the food safety classes I took when I was getting certified as a Master Food Preserver. I'm just not willing to take the risk. Yes, it may look and smell okay, but that doesn't mean that bacteria isn't building up in there, and SOME bacteria is odorless. I'd say eating any dairy product a month after its expiration date is really putting your health at risk, not worth it, in my opinion, for the cost of a new tub of sour cream.

One of the Hoarders episodes addressed a woman who used stuff that was over its expiration date, her excuse being that unless the carton was puffy or the smell was off, that she considered the food okay.

**Daisygirl** · 11-01-2009, 12:35 PM

I'll eat it unless it looks or smells funny!

**Contrary Housewife** · 11-01-2009, 01:56 PM

In my experience if you use a clean utensil every time, keep fingers out, keep it well chilled and don't leave the item on the table or counter to warm up then you can keep food items well past the expiration date.

At a certain point bacteria WILL begin to grow and it is not always visible in the early stages so you have to use your own common sense when deciding how long to keep things.

**frugalfranny** · 11-01-2009, 02:10 PM

Funny rebookie.........have done the same thing....been there, done that.

I am notorious for having unopened cottage cheese past the due date. If the seal looks good......it isn't getting that yellow 'watery liquid' on top when I open it.....I eat it. But know that I have to finish the carton within a day after opening.

**dcompton** · 11-01-2009, 02:18 PM

I'm not terribly cautious, until the gross factor takes over. I've survived to senior citizen status, but maybe I've just been lucky.

**never2late** · 11-01-2009, 06:50 PM

I'm with you on this one. If it's that much past the date though, I'll usually use it in a quick bread or something like that rather than eating it as is out of the fridge.

My mother grew up on in the 1930s on a farm. She talks about how when they would butcher, they would pack the meat in barrels of salt to preserve it. As time would pass on, they would cut the bad part off the meat and cook the heck out of it. (Which explains her tough as leather porkchops!). Eeeww!

**Libby** · 11-01-2009, 09:46 PM

Hahaha....don't get me started on Chinese take out!

Sour cream....if it looks fine and not too far past the date, I may taste it. If its fine tasting then sure....I'll use it to cook, not eat 'as is'. However if there's a tinge of extra sourness - down the drain it goes!