Do jarred foods expire? Same rules as cans?

[bounceswoosh]

I've been googling my brains out, but searches for jarred food returns results for canned food. Is it the same?

Multiple sites have consistently informed me that canned food will last 18 months if acidic (tomatoes, citrus) and five years if not (everything else). Not that I have a record of when I bought it.

What about jarred food? If I never opened it but it says it expired in 2015, do I toss it? Go for it? Are the rules the same as cans? I'm talking about commercially packed food, not home-canned and jarred.

And for that matter, what about cartons with "fake" milk - almond, soy?

Yup - spring cleaning - this time the fridge and pantry.

 

[santacruz skier]

I toss everything with expired dates...but that's me. I purge everything.

 

[Kimmyt]

I would think that anything unopened where the seal (usually a small button on top of a jar) is still depressed would technically be ok since it is still sterile (the button pops up when gasses are released inside the jar, as a result of bacterial growth). That being said, I'm not stocking a doomsday pantry and I try and clean out my can shelf pretty frequently or just not keep stuff around forever, if I find something that has been in there for a year or more then I usually toss it.

 

[santacruz skier]

I don't buy a lot of canned/jarred foods but I do find myself tossing boxed/cartons of soups and jars of pasta sauce. Any exploding foods go without even looking at exp dates.
Also Odwallas, yogurts, many refrigerated items get tossed.

 

[Jilly]

The expiry date or best before is a quality item, not necessarily a safety thing. Since the item is in glass....does it look OK? No bubbles. Open and smell..does it smell OK? In another life I was the QC Microbiologist for a major food company.

But I like to be safe and chuck it. Any milk type product for sure!

 

[sibhusky]

Years ago they didn't put expiration dates on things. Especially cans. I usually don't worry if it hasn't been opened, the seal is still good, the can isn't deformed, etc. Doesn't mean I don't give old stuff a good look and sniff and careful taste when it gets opened. I swear most of these dates exist because someone got a law made which was unneeded for most things, but made it apply to everything. Either that or it's the manufacturer trying to improve their cash flow. Lots of stuff is just fine past its expiration.

 

[Jilly]

I should add though anything in glass and has a sugar substitute should be thrown at expiry. ie. diet drinks. It breaks down into something not good for you.

 

[sibhusky]

There's no soda in my house, so not an issue. My soda is Pellegrino with an herbal tea bag.

 

[elemmac]

I use the website stilltasty.com. Gives you the shelf life of almost anything you can think of.