A friend insists that it should be replaced because it has an expiration date of April 10...2004. (Although I swear I actually bought it a number of years before that! So it could be as old as a decade, and maybe a bit more.)
I'm not cheap..not too cheap anyway, but it seems that the spices smell just as they should, look fine, and I've used them now and then (obviously not very often!) without any illness.
If the Fischer people still make the product, it's not obvious from any web presence I could detect.
Any thought about the toss or save question?
This web site suggests four years as a limit if the product is stored carefully.
And yes, I know it would cost only a few dollars to replace it, but...but....
Tim, my brother, I'm with you 100%.
ReplyDeleteIf it doesn't show signs of infestation of insects or other vermin, has no untoward growth, e.g., mold, mildew, etc., then have at it!
Dates are almost always a CYA thing anyway.
It's common sense.
Two stories, both true.
One - some years ago from a Reader's Digest - was of a wife & mom who wanted to switch her family over to "low fat" milk, 2%, 1%, skim, etc.
She kept the same container and poured the contents of the low-fat into the gallon jug time after time, with out anyone being the wiser.
One day at breakfast, one of the teen lads in his semi-groggy awakening state of mind mumbled out between bites of cold breakfast cereal, "Mom... the date on this milk says it expired two years ago."
Another story, and one which few know about - is that many, if not most, medicines are still good far beyond their "expiration date."
Again, it's strictly a legal CYA kind of thing, but the strength of many, if not most of medications are KNOWN to be at 100% strength for at least two years beyond the date, and once their strength begins to decrease, it's often insignificant in the amount.