Keep or Toss? Pantry Edition

So you’re ready to declutter your whole home! You have a game plan and plenty of boxes or bags to haul away ALL your unwanted stuff. Clothes, books, and housewares are easy— you probably already have a local charity picked out to take those to. And besides any emotional or sentimental attachment, it’s not too hard to decide what to get rid of. If it doesn’t fit or you don’t use it anymore, goodbye!

But what about perishable or sensitive items? It’s hard to know whether you need to get rid of that eye shadow from college or those tax returns from 2005. This series will give you some guidelines for what to keep and what to toss.

Today’s focus is pantries and cabinets! If you love to cook or bake, you know how important it is to use fresh ingredients. Your cakes won’t rise correctly if your baking soda is expired, and your meals won’t have the same pizzazz if you’re using stale spices.

Best-by and expiration dates don’t always tell the whole story, so it’s important to look for other clues to determine whether something needs to be replaced.

• Flour: if it smells musty or sour it’s probably rancid! Time to toss.

• Baking soda/powder: Follow The Kitchn’s instructions here to check if these are still good. If they pass the test, keep!

• Honey stays good basically forever if stored properly! In rare cases though, it can spoil. If you try a little bit and it tastes or smells weird, time to toss. However, if it’s just crystallized, it’s perfectly fine to use! Just heat it up a bit to get the consistency back to where it should be.

• Cooking oil: if it has a strong, unpleasant smell, its probably rancid and needs to be tossed.

• Dented or bulging cans should be tossed as they could be harboring botulism.

• Info on dates on UNOPENED food from the USDA website:

  • A "Best if Used By/Before" date indicates when a product will be of best flavor or quality. It is not a purchase or safety date.

  • A "Sell-By" date tells the store how long to display the product for sale for inventory management. It is not a safety date.

  • A “Use-By" date is the last date recommended for the use of the product while at peak quality. It is not a safety date except for when used on infant formula…consumption by this date ensures the formula contains not less than the quantity of each nutrient as described on the label. Formula must maintain an acceptable quality to pass through an ordinary bottle nipple. Do not buy or use baby formula after its "Use-By" date.

  • A “Freeze-By” date indicates when a product should be frozen to maintain peak quality. It is not a purchase or safety date.

So there you have it! Don’t be so quick to throw out unopened food when you see the date on the label has passed. It’s probably still safe to eat, though if it’s been a reallyyy long time, it may not taste as good. If the package or container has been opened, use your best judgment—if it looks or smells weird, throw it out! When in doubt, Google is your best friend. A little research will save you from throwing out food that is potentially still good.

If you realize that you have a bunch of non-perishables that you aren’t going to eat, consider donating them to your local food bank! Click here to find one near you. For legal reasons though, most food banks cannot accept anything that is out of date.

Do you want to get your pantry organized but don’t know where to start? I can help! Contact me here to set up a free consultation.