Monday, May 10, 2010

The Sniff Test

Gayle King was talking about expiration dates on her XM show the other day. It seems she had put a couple boiled eggs on for her supper...I can't understand why Gayle King (bf to Oprah) would be eating boiled eggs for dinner...but anyway, she had put the eggs on to boil and the phone rang. Then the doorbell rang and it was favorite daughter Kirby. She came into the apartment complaining about the horrible smell, "What is that terrible odor, Mom?"
It seems she had let them boil dry. Ok, that smells pretty bad, but Kirby thought the eggs smelled REALLY bad and went to the fridge to check the expiration date. It seems Jan.16 was the date stamped on the end of the carton. Gayle said, "Eggs don't go bad, do they?" Yes, they do, along with almost everything that you buy at the grocery store! Almost everything has an expiration date clearly stamped somewhere on the bottle, box or can these days.

If you look in my fridge,
you will see I have Condiment Addiction.

There's no group for it, no 12 step plan so I have no hope of recovering from this malady. I have muliples on about every kind of dressing known to mankind. I can't say no to an Asian sauce, Mexican salsa, pickle or jam. I never run out of the staples; mustard, mayo and ketchup...in fact I have 'stand-by' jars in the pantry at all times.

My sister in law sent me a very interesting site, StillTasty.com , with some great information on just how long it's safe to keep foods after you open them. The site is easy to navigate, you just plug in the food and it pulls up the shelf life.
These are opened, refrigerated:

Chocolate syrup 6 months
Barbecue sauce, bottled 1 month
Catsup, tomato; cocktail sauce or chili sauce 1 month
Chutney 1-2 months
Horseradish, in jar 3-4 months
Mayonnaise, commercial 2 months
Mustard 1-2 months
Olives, black and green 2 weeks
Pickles 1-2 months
Salad dressings, commercial, bottled 3 months
Salsa, picante and taco sauces 1 month

Up till now I've used the 'sniff test' to determine if I needed to toss the item. Guess I'd better use the chart from now on.
Got to go now, I have to clean the fridge...

7 comments:

  1. Yikes... I know I have used condiments past the dates on this list. We must have stomachs of steel! :)

    Happy Monday Morning wishes!
    Kindly, ldh

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  2. I didn't realize we had to eat these foods within the time frame you have posted.
    I will be writing a throw out date on every jar and bottle from now on. Scary!

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  3. Thanks. Apparently I have to go shopping tonight because there is nothing left in my fridge that is edible.
    I actually stopped my husband from eating some sandwich meat that he had put into the fridge weeks ago. It wouldn't even pass the sniff test and surely would have made him sick.

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  4. Thanks for sharing this handy website. It looks like I will be cleaning out the fridge this morning and heading to the store to restock.

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  5. I JUST did the SNIFF & PEEK test today & the fridge is nearly empty!

    Have a wonderful week.
    TTFN ~ Hugs, Marydon

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  6. Seems you now have all your followers cleaning their fridge today!!! And yes, eggs have an 'egg-spiration date"!!! If you leave them long enough in the fridge, they will dry out inside!!! I've never had that happen, but I know someone who has!!!

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  7. OUCH...Joycee you've opened my eyes! Shoot I still have mustard from last summer ...same with ketchup! I need to write this out or print it off and keep it on the side of my fridge for future use. I NEVER realized that some of this stuff is only good for 1 month..guess I better start buying smaller jars and bottles! Thanks for the 'heads up'...I'll be watching more closely from now on. Take care...Maura

    ReplyDelete

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