Elderly and expired food...
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DEAR ABBY: My mom and many others share this problem. She refuses to throw away expired food. I'm not talking about something a few days past its "best used by" date; I'm talking years.
Yesterday, I found a box of bread crumbs that had expired in 2001 (I took a picture). Mom insisted that they "never really go bad." I told her she had better hope she isn't the beneficiary of the life insurance policy of anyone who eats them or she could end up as an episode of "Snapped."
Seriously, though, this is a huge problem for the elderly. I hope you will encourage your readers to help their older friends and family members by cleaning out their fridge and cabinets. I always check the expiration date before eating anything at my mom's. Thank you! -- DATE CHECKER
DEAR DATE CHECKER: Your mother is mistaken. While it is safe to consume some foods a few weeks past their expiration date, other items begin to lose their nutritional value or spoil.
I'm glad you wrote. I'm printing your letter for other readers whose older relatives think the way your mother does, so they can check the expiration dates on packages in their relatives' cupboards (and remove any bulging or rusted cans that could cause botulism, a fatal illness)."
This is so true. I found this with my MIL. She tended to "stock up" just in case family visited last minute. She lived in Fla, one son NJ, one Miss and one Ga. None of us close enough for a last minute visit. She had water crackers that I ate and spit out. They were rancid. Checked the ex date and they were a year pasted the ex date. After that I checked the box. We were there earlier in the year and came for TG. She had Bagels that I checked before I ate. The pkg was from when we were there before. There were other outdated pkgs and rolls. I took them out and told her none of it was any good. But she was told they would stay in the frig. I said maybe longer than on the counter but even refrigerated bread molds. She was not happy with me. What got me is nothing I thru away was anything she normally ate. When we cleaned her pantry out after she passed, most of the food was no good. She had a pork roast in the freezer that was 2 yrs old.
Pretty sure we are all aware of this but then some may have never thought about Moms pantry. Where I worked had a food closet. We were obligated to get rid of expired food. Anything with flour should not be used past ex date. Flour goes rancid. Jelly gets moldy on top but there are spores in the rest of the jar. Canned goods are still good past ex date but quality maybe compromised. Like said get rid of bulging tops and rusted cans. Frozen food only lasts a few months, check the internet for ex dates.
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When it comes to expiration dates on food, there is "best if used by" which mean it will be OK after that date just may have lost some quality. "Use by" usually means that is the last day it should be good. When it all comes down to it, if the taste or smell is off, don't eat. But if elderly have lost there smell and taste they won't be able to determine bad from good.
Did you know the loss of smell can mean the onset of Dementia?
He had recently heard that spices lose their effectiveness after a year and was complaining that his Paprika (8 years old) didn't have any flavour. There were rancid nuts, coconut, seeds, raisins that were grey, garlic powder that was a solid mass etc.
I think in part Dad is losing a bit of both his sense of taste as well as his sense of smell, but I was happy to get the cupboard cleared out and cleaned out too.
He did not let me toss the 25 or 30 year old container of dried mashed spuds, not the 50-100 foil containers from his local 'meals' program. But it was a start. And I was able to put food away on the vacant shelves.
Hopefully when I go over later this month I can toss the 2 10kg bags of rancid whole wheat flour.
One time I asked her why was she getting it again, because she just got it last time. She informed me that she had a stockpile of it (no kidding). And then she said, "When I die, don't go taking all of it!" I just said, "Put it on the list." This is what I say to her when she starts making demands of what should be done after she's gone, things like how the master bathroom door needs to be CLOSED during condo showings when it's for sale, etc. She is already trying to control things beyond the grave!
I was telling one of my brothers about this, because he doesn't realize what she's like, because he rarely talks to her on the phone and hardly ever comes down here. (It's going on 1.5 years since he's been here; one time he didn't bother to come down for FIVE YEARS; this is why I call him Sonny No-Show.) Anyway, when I told him about the toilet paper, he has the nerve to say, "I will take some of that." I said fine, but I'm not shipping it.
Maybe he was joking, maybe not. When he found out our mother gave me her car to drive her around, he said, "I wish someone would give ME a car." (He'd just crashed his.) I said, "Fine -- her car is YOURS and YOU can drive her around." And then she'd have to live near him! Haha.
Take that in the lighthearted way it’s meant. We do regularly throw out food from his fridge and pantry. But the way and time in which he was raised, one just didn’t throw away food
My dad has this horrible habit of letting bologna and cottage cheese and things like that go weeks or months past Best By date, and still insisting that they're fine to eat. Maybe they are. I figure he's made it to 80 eating this way, I'm not going to fight with him about it. I would throw away things when he wasn't looking, though. :-) I think this is extremely common, that caregivers have to get rid of long-expired food.
Parents can buy honey, it never spoils
My uncle was going through some jars of canning his mother had put down in his cellar, checking to see if they were still edible. He mentioned that some of the pickles were "d***ed good". This was in the early 2000's. His mother died in 1974.🤣
so the date was good for a week. i opened it and looked inside (habit)but something seemed off. i poured some in the bowl. (i was mixing with other stuff)
it looked a little off. so i smelled inside the bag. BLEH
sour. gross.
i noticed before my mom and dad went to AL. they weren't SEALING product well after use. (no clippy thing)
my mom so meticulous before ---just cant anymore.
in AL she leaves her cookie/cracker packages wide open (and gets ants sometimes) and i have to double check stuff like that all the time.
I think it is how one was trained or learned on their own. My own Mother was one when shopping would dig to back of the grocery shelf for an items with the most far-out expiration date :) I learned that, too. It was a feel good moment !!
My sig other never learned that, so it was a struggle to get him to toss out expired items. I even tried to teach him to use the sniff test for lettuce and other greens. Same with milk. With this hot weather, even with A/C I will find loaves of bread will deteriorate quicker. That just reminded me, does anyone use a "bread box" any more?