There are situations when we buy products, put them in the refrigerator and forget that each of them has its own expiration date. Therefore, various sauces, baked goods, preserves and dairy products may be out of date at the time of consumption.
What can accidentally use an expired product lead to?
Should I only pay attention to the expiration date on the package?
It is important to know that the indication of the expiration date on the package is an average and quite general concept.
Often this term refers to the concept of product quality, not its safety.
In other words, some of the products will not harm health if consumed after the expiration date – they just lose part of the taste, acquire an unpleasant aftertaste or smell.
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In addition, products that have not expired, but have spoiled for some reason, can also be dangerous. This applies especially to dairy, meat products, salads, sauces.
Often, violation of storage or transportation conditions, damage to the packaging leads to early spoilage of the product.
Therefore, the first thing you should pay attention to when evaluating the quality of a product is your senses – sight, smell and taste.
Mold, stickiness, bad smell, discoloration, taste and other indicators of food spoilage should be a reason to stop eating.
In addition, often spoiled products, in which pathogenic bacteria multiply and toxins accumulate, outwardly do not differ in any way from normal, benign ones.
By the way, manufacturers often play it safe and write the expiration date with a margin. Therefore, a delay of several hours or 1-2 days should not become something dangerous if the visual organoleptic indicators of the product do not change.
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Possible effects of consuming expired foods
No consequences
Most often, using expired products will not cause any harm to a person.
Apart from the unpleasant taste and bad mood because of the tasteless dish, there will be no negative effects. But do not take advantage of this fact and do not use expired products. They can be dangerous, especially if stored in inappropriate conditions.
For deep-frozen products, canned goods and cereals, bulk products, a delay of a few days is not critical and will not affect health.
If the products are stored in the freezer for several months, they may become drier, less tasty and juicy, but they can be consumed without fear for your health.
Canned food, if not rusted, bulging or dented, can last for many years. The products in the packaging – pasta, cookies, cereals, after the expiration date can be consumed, but they will become old, will acquire an unpleasant taste.
Pasteurized products do not cause infections and poisoning, since all flora dies during pasteurization. That is why there are recommendations to abandon unpasteurized products during pregnancy, in infancy and in case of serious illnesses.
If these are dairy products, they can become dangerous due to the fact that they are contaminated with bacteria after pasteurization, if the integrity of the package is violated, improper storage and cooling. Therefore, before using products, it is worth assessing the shelf life, smelling the product and evaluating it externally.
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Food poisoning
Food poisoning is one of the first causes of fever, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Food poisoning is possible when using both expired products and products that are quite suitable for the period, but contaminated with pathogenic bacteria or their toxins.
Most often, people are poisoned by perishable foods – these are eggs, meat, moldy vegetables and fruits.
Of course, if the product does not look very fresh, there are signs of spoilage, mold, an unpleasant smell, rotten or sour taste, this will put us off eating it.
But some bacteria do not spoil the taste and smell, the appearance of food. And often poisoning occurs if raw, insufficiently heat-treated or long-stored foods are used, if the temperature regime is not observed.
