It may be a cliché, but
it's a noteworthy one
Poised as we are between two new year's -- the solar and the lunar -- it's a good time to take stock of your foodstock.
This isn't a matter of neatness alone, but also of food safety and nutritional well-being.
Say, for example, you find a something that resembles a can of fruit in your pantry, except that the can is now oblong, with both ends bulged to form a small football.
Don't even think of breaking out the can opener; the can would likely explode. Toss it -- along with the freezer-burned chicken legs you found buried beneath 3 inches of ice in your freezer.
"If in doubt, throw it out," advises Maureen Lueck, a master consumer adviser for the University of Arizona-Pima County Cooperative Extension service. "It's just not worth it."
One bite of the obviously aged and more than likely spoiled fruit could leave you with a bad stomachache -- if you're lucky. Eating spoiled food could lead to food poisoning, which could lead to death.
Food that extends past its expiration date tends to spoil, which could lead to food poisoning. (At the very least, old food loses its flavors and nutritional value and isn't worth serving.) That's why many in the health safety industry recommend you not stock up on items you don't use regularly.
Lueck said about 80 percent of the calls concern food safety and preservation.
She remembers one woman inquiring about a 2-year-old container of cream cheese. The caller wanted to know if the product was still good. The answer: absolutely not.
Another caller found frozen chicken at the bottom of a freezer and had no idea how long it had been there. Seems she had inherited the freezer and its contents when she married her husband.
Again, Lueck advised tossing it out. "I figure I've saved a few lives."
When to toss out food
Staples
Dried pasta: 2 years
Tea bags: 18 months
Rice: 2 years
Rice mixes: 6 months
Honey, jams, syrups: 1 year
Pudding mixes: 1 year
Salad oils: 1 to 3 months
Flour: 1 year
Cake mixes: 1 year
Peanut butter: 9 months
Instant potatoes and casserole mixes: 18 months
Nuts: 9 months
Canned/ dried food
Fruits: 1 year canned; 6 months dry
Soups: 1 year
Meat, fish and poultry: 1 year
Soups: 1 year
Pickles and olives: 1 year
Whole spices: 1 year
Ground spices: 6 months
Herbs: 6 months
Opened ketchup: 1 month
Tabasco and other sauces: 2 years
Soft drinks: 3 months
Fresh Fruits
Apples, citrus, melons: 1 week
Berries: 1 to 2 days
Citrus juices: 6 days
All others: 3 to 5 days
Fresh Vegetables
Carrots, onions, potatoes, other root vegetables: 2 weeks
Mushrooms, salad greens, cabbage: 1 to 2 days
Peas, corn on cob: 3 to 5 days
Others: 3 to 5 days
Dairy products
Butter, margarine: 1-2 weeks
Buttermilk, sour cream, yogurt: 5 days to 2 weeks
Cottage or ricotta cheese: 5 days
Cream cheese:2 weeks
Eggs: 3 weeks
Hard cheese: 3-6 months unopened; 3-4 weeks opened
Milk, pasteurized: 3-4 days
Frozen Meats
Bacon:1 month
Ground beef, lamb, veal: 4 months
Ground pork: 3 months
Beef roast: 1 year
Pork: 6 months
Beef steaks: 1 year
Chicken: 1 year
Turkey, duck: 1 year
Clams: 3 months
Lean fish: 6 months
Fatty fish: 3 months
Breaded fish: 3 months
Hot dogs: 1 month
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