Telltale signs your Food is expired
- 1/22
Butter
Joshua Resnick/Shutterstock - 2/22
Bread
forstbreath/Shutterstock - 3/22
Eggs
Adam Gault/OJO Images via Getty Images Yahoo News is better in the app
- 4/22
Milk
ziggy1/iStock via Getty Images Plus - 5/22
Ice cream
MarieKazPhoto/iStock via Getty Images Plus - 6/22
Hard cheese
ImageSource/ImageSource via Getty Images Yahoo News is better in the app
- 7/22
Soft cheese
Valentyn Volkov/Shutterstock - 8/22
Uncooked red meat
Aleksandar Karanov/Shutterstock - 9/22
Onions
NUM LPPHOTO/Shutterstock Yahoo News is better in the app
- 10/22
Garlic
Marian Weyo/Shutterstock - 11/22
Fish
Marian Weyo/Shutterstock - 12/22
Chicken
mpessaris/iStock via Getty Images Plus Yahoo News is better in the app
- 13/22
Deli meat
Dan Kosmayer/Shutterstock - 14/22
Mayonnaise
piyaset/iStock via Getty Images Plus - 15/22
Takeout
Elena.Katkova/Shutterstock Yahoo News is better in the app
- 16/22
Canned fish
artemisphoto/Shutterstock - 17/22
Canned soup
Ozgur Coskun/Shutterstock - 18/22
Yogurt
haha21/E+ via Getty Images Yahoo News is better in the app
- 19/22
Fruit
Africa Studio/Shutterstock - 20/22
Berries
nycshooter/E+ via Getty Images - 21/22
Herbs
BRETT STEVENS/Image Source via Getty Images Yahoo News is better in the app
- 22/22
Leafy greens and broccoli
casanisa/Shutterstock
The Daily Meal Staff
Contrary to popular belief, expiration or sell by dates on foods aren’t necessarily a reliable way of telling whether something has gone bad. In fact, these dates are mostly aimed at retailers and let grocery stores know the date by which the product should be sold or removed from the shelf.
So take the sell-by dates with a grain of salt and use your sense of sight and smell instead. When it comes to going through your stash of groceries at home, you just need a small amount of know-how to tell if something should be tossed or kept.