Do you use cans of vegetables past their 'use by' date? I tossed a can of stewed tomatoes in a soup tonight and reallized they had a 'use by' date that is long past. They looked and smelled fine, so I said heck with it.

If the can wasnt bent or distended youll be fine, its more like a "Best By" date

I would be careful with acidic canned foods though. They spray on a lining to keep the acid from reacting the tin can, and it MAY wear down the lining over time, though I have never heard this in actuality.

That's my feeling as well. The inside of the can looked fine, tomatoes looked normal, etc. so I figured they would be OK.

If I suddenly stop posting, you'll know what killed me. Ha!

I bought a can of Manwich that had no dents and when I reached for the can opener I noticed the end kind of bulging...NEVER open a can like that because that crap blew over the kitchen worse than Baitshack at Ryan's!

If something has expired/dated, smells the least bit off...out it goes.

Bulging = Botulism (sp?)

Small dents are fine...when the dent is on an edge or significant that metal is contacting metal on the inside, pass. If it's not severely dented or bulging, it should be ok.

When in doubt, throw it out! It's not worth it to use anything questionable (but I'm pregnant and have a toddler). However, I trust my nose and eyes to figure out whether or not something is still good. Keep in mind that many canned goods have a long shelf life, so if it is significantly expired (i.e. more than a year), it was probably purchased 3-4 years ago!!

Working in food processing I learned a few things concerning dates on foods...

1. No food is labeled with a hard and fast expiration date. This is for two reasons. First, they can't guarantee that the food will last to that date as storage temperature and handling will have a big impact on a foods shelf life.

Second, food doesn't go bad overnight. Food is not good today and bad tomorrow. Spoilage takes time, therefore, a single date isn't feasible.

2. Working at a creamery, the date stamped on milk was not a "Best by" date, or even an expiration date. It was referred to as a production code. We would often run 3 different production codes on the same day from the same tank of milk into the same containers, with the only change being the date that was printed on the container.

However, if your milk goes bad BEFORE the date on the container, and you haven't let it get warm, buy your milk from somewhere else. That store is not handling their dairy products correctly and it probably means they aren't handling other products correctly either.

Finally, if you have a canned good that is swelling, THROW IT OUT!!!! You have a very good chance of a nasty strain of botulism in that can that you do not want to eat. However, if you have an old can that looks fine, and isn't swelling, open it and smell it. If it smells fine and looks fine you are good to go.