mold and food safetysteemCreated with Sketch.

in food •  7 years ago 



Screen Shot 2017-11-29 at 1.56.43 PM.png


I re-opened this container the other day for my breakfast - I checked the best before date and it was still good......or was it?


Screen Shot 2017-11-29 at 1.50.46 PM.png And this is what greeted me.



I have always been a stickler for best before dates and thought I was being conscientious and frugal by eating the rest of this yogurt before it went bad. It had a few more days before it was past it’s due date or so I thought.

Too late!



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What I found out after a bit of searching around on the internet is that once yogurt has been opened, limit it to one week in the fridge, then toss it — even if the date is still current.

I am going to keep to my own refrigerator shelf life of 3 - 4 days (which is how long I store soup, stews, any leftovers).


Those best before dates are there for selling purposes for unopened sealed product not for storing it in your fridge after opening it.

The cultures in yogurt don’t live forever and when they die mold starts to grow. The bacteria acts as a preservative.

Signs to look for—



When you open your yogurt it’s normal for liquid to be on top. If there is more than normal it might be a sign that the yogurt is starting to spoil regardless of the date on the package.


Stir it and if it mixes back to a creamy consistency it’s fine. If it doesn’t mix well, toss it. Also look for curdling or chunking as I call it - it looks a bit dry and cracked in spots.


If you see mold like I did - don't scrape it off and eat the "good parts". There are no good parts in any food if mold is found.


I usually purchase my yogurt in 500g tubs rather than the smaller one serving containers. Although I’ve used the one serving kind before, I have never had a spoiled yogurt.

Screen Shot 2017-11-29 at 1.43.53 PM.png

Now I know. Best before dates are there for the grocer’s shelf life NOT for opened products.

Screen Shot 2017-11-29 at 1.45.32 PM.png

My advice?

Treat any opened product as you would any leftovers you’ve stored - 3-4 days.

Someone once told me —

If in doubt, throw it out!



photos by
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https://www.canitgobad.net/can-yogurt-go-bad/
Nikon D3100
Adobe Lightroom



Here is a list of blogs I read and somewhat sourced.

https://www.canitgobad.net/can-yogurt-go-bad/
https://www.eatbydate.com
https://spoonuniversity.com
https://www.ehow.com


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This was eye-opening - made me realize how often people take a cavalier attitude toward the food they eat. I remember the cramps and pain I suffered from drinking water at work from a poorly maintained water dispensing machine. That's a good quote - when in doubt, throw it out. Wish I thought of that :)

Yes...I love this quote too!! I don't know who the person is that said it....must be an older person saying. Probably.

The water cooler - yes, I remember that from working at the hospital too. The ice cube machines were full of nasties and even the nurses would say not to use the cubes. Gross.

Sorry, @countrygirl, you can lead an old horse to water but you can't make him drink...

I'm gonna continue to be one of those guys that scrapes off the mold and eats the good parts. :O

😄😇😄

@creatr

I'm sure you have your reasons....but no thanks. I can taste mold on bread that can't be seen until I search for that one slice that has green stuff on it. Not all mold is good for us, I don't think anyhow.

OK, I'll probably throw away the yogurt, @countrygirl...
But @johnjgeddes, I definitely will keep cutting the mold off the cheese and eating the rest... :D

and bread....I was raised on rye with no preservatives...I pulled off moldy crusts for decades...figured it was like free penicillin LOL

I think it's good for you on bread. Reminds me of a story my father told me. I'll have to write that one up some day... ;)

He will because he's stubborn too!!!! It's NOT penicillin guys!

you gotta be joking, @creatr - you might get away scraping mold off hard cheese, but mold in yogurt pervades the entire product - A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. LOL!!

You had to take out the sword, didn't you? ;) LOL!

He probably sharpened it this morning!

only in love - I don't want you to be sick :)

Some years ago it happened a similar thing to me. Since that time, I usually finish very sooner every product that I open ;)

I'm usually good with that too. This one surprised me. It's a different brand than I normally use so maybe that's part of it as well.

Good advice, @countrygirl. In the same container as the mold, there may be other toxins growing. Believe me you don't want botulism.

You're right. This grossed me out because I had eaten the yogurt two days prior so obviously it was brewing it's spores even then. Blech!

That's enough to dampen any appetite!

hehe....so true

You have made a lot of important news. Not everyone has done this news. Thank you very much. You always do this kind of news

It is the same with all food dates. They only apply to unopened packs. Once open, it's important to check freshness before eating. Some manufacturers give an indication of how many days opened packs will last.
Food is often still perfectly okay for a limited time after the 'Best Before' date. (Obviously not yoghurt, haha) but the 'Use By' date is best adhered to.

Yes....I've only seen those use by dates a few times. I think I might go back to the one serving size yogurts - that way nothing will spoil because it won't be opened. I was trying to be a good steward with waste.

When purchasing any food product, you should read its expiry date and its nutritional value. And this is for the lack of health.

This post has received a 15.05 % upvote from @booster thanks to: @johnjgeddes.

This is a good post with timely info! Yes I always believed the date was only for unopened items.

The one to watch is mayo. In my house a jar is opened but not used very quickly... Time just slides by.

Now one more thing to mention, check the dates on yogurt while at the store. I found a bad one a while back

I even did a vid asking folks what they thought od expiration dates lol.

Good reminders! and for mayo too....I forgot the mayo!! You're right. I'm going to put a sharpie on my fridge door so I can write the opened date on it.

We had a grocery store around here called Metro - gone now - but it had a policy of giving you free product for dated product you found. So for your find of the dated yogurt - they'd have given you a fresh free one. If you found bruised fruit or spoiled vegees, same.

I used to work shifts at the hospital and one night around midnight I went to Metro. There was only need for one cashier. The lady in the line ahead of me had a huge basket of stuff - although it kind of bugged me that she didn't let me ahead of her with my one bag of milk, I learned a lot from watching her. For every grocery item she had - all dated, or spoiled, she got a free item of the same.

Can you believe it? I guess it was a cost saving way for the store to have customers pick out the old stuff instead of paying someone full time to do the job. And for her work she only paid $10 for the remainder of items. Shrewd and a great savings for her family. She had 10 bags of groceries.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)Reveal Comment

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