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Debbie Dujanovic reporting
Produced by Anne ForesterIt's costing more and more money every time you take a trip to the grocery store. Food prices have jumped more than 7 percent since spring. So moms we talked to were surprised when we showed them the list of expired items we were able to purchase at their local grocery stores. "That's scary actually," said Melanie Vera. "I'm surprised that this is still on the shelves today," said Wendy Hooker.
KSL-5 took the same grocery list to five stores in mid-October. Using a list of 26 items on most people's weekly shopping list, we were able to purchase five expired products from one store, seven from another, 10 from two other stores and 12 from the last store we shopped.
Several of the products we purchased had passed their dates by weeks, months, even years. For example, we bought vitamins that expired in January of 2007, a bottle of vegetable oil that was dated September of last year, pasta that expired last December, and cereal that was two years old. We also found outdated prepackaged meats that were still for sale, including hot dogs that expired a month before we bought them.
Since most of us probably don't examine every label on everything we buy, you may be concerned about purchasing foods that technically are expired. But is it really a big deal or is your health in any danger?
The federal government does not require manufacturers to date their food, but it does set guidelines so stores and shoppers know how fresh it is. "Sell-by" tells the store how long to keep the product on the shelves. You get the best quality before the "best-by" date. Finally, "use-by," means you should eat it by then.
There is one product in our bag that is regulated: infant formula. The government requires a use-by date on each can because the longer it sits, the more nutrients it can lose. So when we told pediatrician Paul Lei that we were able to buy formula that had expired six weeks earlier, he told us, "I definitely do not advise feeding infants formula that is expired." He went on to say that he would not feed an infant the baby food we bought either because it had expired three months ago. "If it's something I'm not willing to put in my mouth, I'm certainly not going to advise having infants or six-month-olds, in the case of baby food, taking it."
Food safety expert Dr. Brian Nummer told us his biggest concern is the packaged meat products that were out-of-date. Nummer recommends shoppers stick to the date, otherwise there's a risk of a bacteria called listeria. "This listeria organism could grow to the point where you could get ill," he said.
Nummer pointed out that old bottles of vitamins won't make you sick, but it is a waste of money because vitamins break down. "Vitamin is a little bit of vitamin and a whole bunch of starch that holds it together," Nummer said. "After a year to a year and a half, to say two years, you are just buying a starch granule." He says the same thing could have happened to the vitamins in the old cereal and pasta too. The active ingredients in the six-month-old cough syrup we bought may not be as active either.
Finally, Nummer analyzed several other products we purchased. He says the 10-day-old yogurt, the three-month-old mayo, and the five-month-old frosting will not make you sick, rather the quality or taste might not be top notch.
As we looked through the bags of groceries both Wendy Hooker and Melanie Vera had just purchased, both moms pointed out that this is a good reminder for shoppers to double check what they're buying. "I better be watching what I buy now," said Vera. "This is not good."
E-mail: iteam@ksl.com
