When is expired food safe to eat?

The World

As more of us are being forced to stretch our food dollars further, the question on some of our minds is: Can I eat that old can of soup in the back of the cupboard? Or more generally: Can I eat expired food?

Nadia Arumugam, a food writer whose work has appeared in Slate, the Guardian, and The Times of London wanted to find out. She embarked on a diet consisting solely of expired foods for two weeks. She tells us how the food tasted and whether she got sick.

And Dr. Ted Labuza of the University of Minnesota looks at whether Nadia’s experiment was a good or a bad idea for her own health. He also tells us when expiration dates matter, and when they don’t.

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