Well, I dunno about soy milk, but on regular milk you can usually use it for about a week after the expiration date. I like to check anyway though, even if the milk is pretty new... just in case. I'm a little bit paranoid.

Usually I look at the expiration dates, but I ignore them if the food looks/smells okay. Those things aren't set in stone after all.

As a trained Cook, expiery dates are the first thing I generally look at. And if I dont look at it, I tend to go by smell/feel. And when all else fails...I get someone to taste is. Actually, that hasnt happened in years, so I cant really count that as a way of checking the experation of something.

Expiration dates are usually just a estimation of when that product is going to expire. I've looked at a couple expiration dates of old things in the fridge, and I'll usually toss something after it's been opened and expired for about a week past it's date. But I've also had a two day expired milk, and that tasted just fine. But I've had times when I didn't pay any attention to the date of something, and ate it. And THEN I noticed that it's been expired for quite awhile...

I don't have to worry about that usually though. If something looks old or moldy, I'll toss it. And if something has been in the fridge for a long ass time, I'll check the date of it. And if it's past it's due date, but looks fine, I'll usually eat it.

Oh, and I had really expired soda before, and that tasted horrible DX. I went back to visit my mom, and she told me there was soda from the last time I was there. I looked at the date first, it was old. But she insisted that I tried to see if it was still good. And of course it wasn't.

Also I usually have this little self rule. If the food is in the front of the fridge or pantry, it must still be good. If it's in the way back, it must be old and expired XD

Be careful in hotels with continental breakfasts too. My mother and I were going to drink some chocolate milk for breakfast (cause it was there. woohoo!) and poured ourselves a couple glasses.

First sip, I said. "Dear God!" and immediately spat it back out. I mean, it was a hotel on vacation, we weren't gonna check the expiration date. you'd have thought someone in the hotel would.

So just be careful they next time you eat/drink something at a hotel. lol.

Originally Posted by Naluc

Be careful in hotels with continental breakfasts too. My mother and I were going to drink some chocolate milk for breakfast (cause it was there. woohoo!) and poured ourselves a couple glasses.

First sip, I said. "Dear God!" and immediately spat it back out. I mean, it was a hotel on vacation, we weren't gonna check the expiration date. you'd have thought someone in the hotel would.

So just be careful they next time you eat/drink something at a hotel. lol.

Honestly, its not the Hotels fault, its the cooks fault for being a lazy ass. And if someone got sick, it would come back and bite them so hard in the ass that they would be fired before they knew what hit them. Plus, there would probably be legal action.

I think expiration dates are estimates to go by but don't have to be followed to the exact date. Many expiration dates are actually sell by dates, which means that the product should be sold from the store by that date in order for it to still be fresh in the coming days after it is bought. I don't know anything about soy milk since I have never drank it, but with regular milk you can tell if it's still good by smelling or tasting it. My mom kept thinking this one jug of milk was going bad even though it was a few days before the expiration date, which can happen, though it was fine. A lot of times milk is good a few days after the date too. You just have to taste a little and make sure it isn't all nasty. As far as anything else, it depends what it is and when it expired if I'll eat it or not. Like a few days ago, my friend was complaining about some chocolates having expired a few months ago, but I tried one and it was fine. If it had been over a year, I wouldn't have tried it.

Now, I've found some crazy stuff in my grandma's freezer. She seems to think putting things in the freezer automatically means it won't go bad, but I don't trust that. I once found marshmallows with an expiration date from before I was born (and I was about sixteen years old at the time I found this). I threw that out as soon as she wasn't looking. Last year my aunt took a can of soda from the back of my grandma's fridge and opened it and started drinking it, then said it tasted bad. When I looked at it, the date on it was the year I was born (and I'm twenty three now). Gross! After that I went through her fridge and found things from ten or more years ago, all of which I tossed. To me things like that are a health hazard, but she refuses to throw things out and thinks they're okay to use.

My friend had a drink (anyone remember fruit shoots..?) that was three years old once, but that doesn't really measure up with Vickicat's post. O__o
I'm pretty paranoid about mould and expiry dates. Well, not quite expiry dates; but I always take them into consideration, especially with milk. I hate wasting food so I'll always check twice, but in my paranoia I've managed to develop a pretty good nose for things. Kinda. ^^;
I had yoghurt that was one month past it's expiration date once, and it was absolutely fine. And I've had yoghurt that was only three days past, and not good at all. I wish it was more accurate, but maybe the fridge was at the wrong temperature or something.
What I hate the most is when bread and cucumber go off. (Just.. to name a few..) Maybe expiry dates ARE meant to be taken loosely, and we're meant to be able to figure it out ourselves, but it's still nice when they're there, giving you back-up information.

Yes, I pay close attention to expiration dates. I've definitely accidently eaten/drank something that was past it's due date, but nothing too bad. (I can't think of what exactly right now, my mind is kind of blank.)

There's some things that don't bother me, such as tinned food. Perhaps i'll use it a couple months after it 'expires'. The only thing i never touch after the given date is fresh produce, especially meats, and milk. I've often had milk go off before the expiry date, so i always get into the habit of smell checking it during summer.

Many times over the last year, when i started drinking semi skimmed, and later on, skimmed milk, i'd drink it, a few days before expriery only to find it tasted odd. Within minutes it would upset me. I learn't quickly. =3

Fabby is right, it's really not an issue with milk, a whole lot of the time my milk can end up a week past its date before I use it all up, and it's still fine. With milk you're gonna KNOW if it's off so you're really quite safe. If it goes into blobs when I pour it into my tea then I know it's time for it to go down the sink.

With raw meat products I'm more circumspect, mainly because I worked in a food factory for 20 years and am fully versed in all areas of meat decomp, lol, but also I'm also fully versed in how meat doesn't instantly start to rot once you hit the Use By date. I'd still use raw meat once it was a couple of days past its date, but I'd probably throw it away after that.
Rule of thumb for me is once raw meat starts to change colour it needs to be binned. So if your chicken starts to darken and go a brownish colour, or red meat to get a grey tinge, bin it.

Don't forget that some meats are traditionally hung until they start to rot before they're considered good to eat, like pheasant for example.

This might suprise you but the stuff you need to watch out for is actually things like ketchup and so on. All the items that used to be loaded with preservatives and kept in the cupboard, and now say, "Refridgerate after opening" because those preservatives have been drastically reduced or removed altogether. Those can sit in your cupboard still and show no ill effects, unless your jam/jelly starts to go moldy and so on. But the issue here is that the reason you're supposed to refridgerate them now is because keeping them below 5 degrees will halt bacteria growth.
These items have their own natural preservatives in them because of their sugar/salt content and/or acidity levels, which prevents them from showing visible signs of decay but it's not enough to totally stop bacteria growth.

So if you don't refridgerate items that state they should be then low-level bacteria will start to build up in them over time. Nowhere near enough to make you sick just from putting the stuff on your toast or your fries once or twice, the issue here is that some food-poisoning bacterias like to hang around in your body. They settle themselves in nicely and as you continue to consume these un-refridgerated products the levels of bacteria in your body will increase, eventually hitting dangerous levels and making you very sick indeed.

So if stuff says refrigerate after opening, do yourself a favour and make sure you do :yes:

When it comes to expiration dates I really don't pay too close attention cause food doesn't last long in my house and a gallon of Milk only last two days in my house.
Still my boyfriend is super paranoid about expression dates and I'm always stopping him from throwing perfectly good food away. I think most things are still good up to a week after their due date and some cans keep a little longer than that.

For the majority of fresh foods, such as fruit and veg and baked goods there's absolutely zero need to throw them away just because they've passed their date.

Teach your boyfriend to really read the label. Fresh animal products and chilled stuff like fresh juice will say Use By. Other food will say Best before. Big difference. Best before very literally mean it's fine to still eat it after that date, but it will be at peak quality beforehand. The stuff just needs to be stored properly :)

I'm not just talking out of my butt here either. 20 years experience in the food industry plus certified health & safety and food hygiene training.

@jellysundae: Woah!! My mom's always saying that, but I've never had it properly explained before. (And.. I've always thought it's just my mom nagging.) Thank you! It makes sense... and.. wow. O:

I always pay attention to expiration dates. Even though I KNOW that just because it expires on a particular day, that doesn't mean it's necessarily rotten the day after, I just can't bring myself to eat or drink something that's expired. D=

I have had the pleasure of pouring myself some milk & cereal, only to discover that the milk was expired. That would be the reason that I check expiration dates now.

I don't know that an expiration date one soy milk would be any less important than one on regular milk. I mean, rotten is rotten, any way you look at it.

I don't really drink any kind of milk outside of with cereal or cookies. I just think it tastes gross on its own, and I don't really like how thick it is. =/

I know a lot of people don't like it, but Skim milk isn't thick and that's the main reason I don't like Whole or 2%. Once you get used to it, it's really not bad.