Spent part of the day sorting a client's pantry. Gosh, don't you wish the companies would all put the expiration date in the same spot?

My tip: I added bright green post it notes to things with soon expiration dates. That way the homeowner will know which items to work into the menu soon so the food won't be wasted.

How often do you check canned goods, bottles and spices for expiration dates?

I found expired baking powder, baking soda, vinegar, oil- lots of staples.

Lea, I only check the canned goods when I clean the pantry out.

The past Kitchen branch, I emptied the closet, checked all the dates. I should take a photo of what I threw out and paste it on the inside of the door to remind me of the waste of money by not doing this more frequently! LOL!

I did something different, I took a magic marker and wrote "USE" on the cans, to remind me it's getting near the expiration date, and put it in the front of the cabinet.

Another thing I do with a marker is write the number 2 on the top of a bottle as a reminder that there is a second bottle or can on hand. This keeps us from buying too many.

In general, I don't worry too much about expiration dates on sealed cans and unopened packages. I tend to believe that properly preserved & stored food items have a longer shelf life than what is stated on the can or package. Besides, I often buy things from bulk bins and there are no expiration dates on them.

I accept that baking powder can lose its leavening abilities over time and oil can turn rancid, but vinegar doesn't expire. Vinegar is basically acetic acid and water and, due to its acidity, self-preserving.

Please be aware that expired flour-based products such as pancake mix and cake mix can indeed cause life threatening allergic reactions due to mold that grows in them that you would not be able to see.

Since I can't put links, please google the words "expired cake mix toxic."

Thanks.

Trust me, vinegar goes bad. It gets a nasty bitter taste after about 6 months. I toss mine all the time since I buy it in gallons.

I store all bulk flour purchases in the big freezer. You can smell it after a while when it "turns." I have a crazy sensitive sense of smell and can tell when things are off.

Mold spores are present practically everywhere, which is why, often, when fruit, or a slice of bread, is left out on the counter, one will find mold growing on them. Mold is not necessarily a bad thing. If anyone eats blue cheese, well, the blue veins are actually formed of a type of mold. It is present in the skins of grapes (which helps when turning grapes into wine). In order to be toxic, one needs to be allergic to mold.

I think most pre-mixed packaged items, especially those containing fats/oils, have a limited shelf-life since they tend to become rancid after some time. I don't have a lot of pre-mixed packaged items in my pantry. No cake mixes, pancake mixes, brownie mixes, etc. I have flour, butter, sugar, and oil, instead.

What I do have in my pantry are cans of condensed milk (4 cans), coconut milk (2 cans), fish (1 can mackerel, 4 cans sardines, 10 cans tuna), corned beef (1 can), fruits (pears, apricots, peaches, mixed fruit; approx. 12 cans total), vegetables (green beans, green peas, corn, about 4 of each, 1 can each garbanzo beans, baby corn, jackfruit), 2 jars each of spicy relishes and chutney; rice, some noodles and pasta, 1 jar of spaghetti sauce, 1 can of soup (We tend to prefer homemade pasta sauce and soup, but these premade sauce and soup are part of my emergency supplies), 1 box flan mix, 5 boxes of jello (had 6 but made one last week), 1 container rolled oats, 1 box cornmeal, etc. The quantities are not large, so it is fairly easy to keep track of things. Much of what is in my pantry is also part of my "emergency supply", which includes 12 gallons of water.

It's interesting how we're all different in what we eat and how that affects our pantry organization. We've had to take back more stuff that went bad *before* the expiry date than things we've thrown out b/c the've expired after their date (not including salad greens)

I have a small pantry (a four foot bookshelf) plus a cupboard with baking supplies. although not ideal, it does help with keeping current.

My girls are involved in a couple of organizations that frequently request a donation to the food pantry. I check exp dates then and donate things that are either close to their exp date (1-2 months away) or something that has been sitting there ~ maybe a specialty item that I never got around to using and the probability of using it before it expires is slim.

I've been known to write the year on the top of the can or spice lid. If its more time sensitive I'll write month/year on it.

I put new items to the back/bottom moving older inventory to the front.

I don't buy stuff just b/c. I only stock up on things we use all the time. I only buy other things if I have a specific use for it ~ speciality item or new recipe.

Baking supplies I only buy in small quantities as if it's in the house I'll eat it ~ if you know what I mean... (and I'm only 2blocks from the grocery store)

I have a date with my pantry ~ so it will be interesting (to me) to see what/if any things are past their exp date ~ I know i'm tossing the pumpkin seeds that must have been coated in some kind of salty toxins...

LOL and I buy baking supplies in HUGE quantities because I bake stuff to sell often and I give baked goods as gifts. I buy flour in 25 or 50lb bags, sugar etc in 25lb bags. I just bought 22lbs of expensive belgian chocolate (11 dark, 11 milk) this weekend. I carved it up into about 1lb blocks that I will vacuum seal and freeze.

I make my own salad dressings so red, rice and white vinegar as well as canola oil I buy in gallons. It's cheaper to toss 1/3 of the bottle than to buy small ones.

I buy almost no canned goods with a few exceptions - organic diced tomatoes being one - so those are easy to keep in rotation.

I buy a lot of nuts but keep those in the freezer.

I made a batch of cookies for my DN for his birthday and ate them ALL before I got them to him (he lives 3 blocks away)

Dh makes his own salad dressing with olive oil and cider? vinegar. I don't use any. What I tend to throw away is mayo ~ I use it once in the summer I guess for a special recipe ~ so I've learned to buy the cheapest bottle regardless of size. And this year i think I'll just borrow some from the neighbour...

I buy canned tomatoes, rotel, tomato sauce, tomato paste. Diced green chilies and jalepenos. Pinto and garbanzo beans.

Because of our food allergies/sensitivities there are a lot of items that we can only buy in small quantities. I'd love to be able to buy a gallon of wheat free soy sauce but can't even find it in a 500ml bottle.

I keep all the extra condiments/ peanut butter/ etc in one place too so that I know what I have.