Expiration Dates

This is some research I compiled to assist my church with our food hamper service. We had a little issue regarding distributing food past it's expiration date so I was asked to conduct some research based on general safety of various foods that are past their expiration date.

Expiration Dates on Various Foods

General:
· Do not risk feeding children, pregnant women, people with low immunity food that is past expiration date.
· If stamp says “Use by” then do not use after the date
· “Best before” does not mean it will become harmful soon after the date
· When mould is noticeable before best before date, it is dangerous (possibility of bacteria already present and multiplying)
· After expiration date, food will not carry as much nutritional value but can still be edible
· Sense of smell plays important role in identifying edibility
Bread:
· Expiry date indicates when bread will stay fresh until.
· Is non edible when too stale or significant amounts of mould is formed
· freezing bread lengthens duration of edibility NOT refrigerating
· Mould on bread is not hazardous; can just be cut off
· Last 2-7 days after purchase.
Cream cheese:
· Has short storage life
· Ideally consumed before best before date
· Sniff test to check if still good
· Freezing changes texture
· When mould appears, it affects entire cheese
· Taste changes when mould spreads
· Small amounts of mould can be trimmed off
· If unopened and kept in fridge, can last a few months
· Cook/freeze by 1 or 2 weeks if unopened
· Should be eaten 3-4 days after opening or will be vulnerable to carry listeria
Crackers:
· Are still edible but will taste stale
Canadian Food Inspection Agency states: Food should not be eaten if the expiration date has passed. They should be discarded. This is quite skeptical because expiry dates are only a guideline and have a wide margin of when food should be tossed out.

Charts shown in this site are quite helpful:
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Articles/Nutrition-Health-Food-Labeling-646/food-expiration-dates.aspx
Bibliography:
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/concen/tipcon/date.shtml
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/oct2006/db20061002_959305.htm
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/37475
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/45367
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090708113144AAWvoWC