Food Expiration Dates

This is a recent story that I've seen run by several news outlets on food expiration dates:
http://www.today.com/news/confusing-sell-dates-food-may-be-costing-you-money-8C11339499

The bottom line is that most dates stamped on packages are just a guess of when products will be at their highest quality.  Most can be used far beyond the recommended date stamped on the package.  There are three exceptions to this.  Meat, dairy and formula have expiration dates that should be observed (they will say "exp." on the label).  Otherwise, in some cases, the products will be good for years beyond the "best by" or "sell by" dates.

A quote: "Broad Leib (lead author of the study from Harvard Law School's Food Law and Policy Clinic) said food can be totally safe well past the date, from cereal to salad dressing, even eggs. She said "use by" or "sell by" dates on a product have "nothing to do with safety at all. It's just a manufacturer's best guess of when that food is going to be the freshest and at the best quality."

Another quote:  "According to countless food safety experts, the National Food Lab, there's not been a single instance of food-borne illness or food poisoning linked with people eating food after that date," Broad Leib said."

When Cheapest isn't Best!

Often, I can be found at our local grocery store doing price-per-ounce comparisons, buying in bulk, and/or buying store-brand items.  I do this to try to save money which allows me to funnel those savings back into buying additional storage.  All of these things are good price-saving strategies, but in some cases they aren't the best strategies for your home storage.

Here are some examples:

Oils
Cheapest -  I know that I can save a lot of money buy buying my cooking oil in bulk (large containers) at warehouse stores.  I've learned, however, that oils don't store well long term.  I am careful to keep my oil in a cool (basement), dark (in a box) area to maximize storage potential.  Often, though, I will open some oil and use it for a month or two.  As is typical with oil that have been stored for a while, it soon starts to smell rancid and I throw it out.  So, in this case, buying large containers of oil just results in waste.

Better - Now I buy cooking oil in small containers.  I find that even if it has been stored for a year, I am able to use it fast enough that it doesn't turn rancid.

Sandwich Dressing
Cheapest - There are two problems that I have with these giant-but-cheaper containers of Miracle Whip and/or mayonnaise.  The first issue is that they contain a lot of oils and behave similarly to stored oils as I've described above.  The second issue is that my growing boys use these dressings for sandwich making and they aren't so careful about cross contamination.  The result is mustard or pickle bits that end up in the dressing.  Yuck!  I only had to learn this lesson once.  I had a huge mayonnaise container in my fridge and it seemed to last forever (and take a ton of fridge space).  I did my best to keep it cross-contamination free, but there was only so much I could do.  I couldn't wait to get rid of it.

Better - Now I buy small bottles/containers of these dressings.  Once opened, we are able to eat the contents quickly.  I personally prefer the squeezable bottles because there isn't any danger of mustard cross-contamination.  I also realize that in an potential emergency situation where I don't have electricity, I am much more likely to be able to use the contents of these small bottles quickly without having to worry about refrigeration.

Peanut Butter
Cheapest - Big bulk jars.  Peanut butter contains a lot of oil which has all of  the challenges listed with oils above.  We eat some, but not enough to keep up with those big jars. 

Better - I buy smaller jars and rotate and donate more often in order to avoid rancid peanut butter.  Your family might eat peanut butter quickly enough to avoid this issue.  We don't.

Powdered Milk
Cheapest - I originally thought all powdered milk was the same.  Boy, was I wrong!  I've found that choosing powdered milk is an extremely personal purchase.  Some are sweet, some are cheap, and some more closely resemble the milk that you are used to drinking. 

Better - I made sure to taste several brands of milk before deciding which brand to store.  I also evaluated my powdered milk use to determine how much we would use for drinking and/or baking.  I did find one that I really like and I wait for sales, but it isn't as cheap as some powdered milks that are available (and that I like a lot less).  I'm always hesitant to recommend one brand, but instead encourage you to find what YOU like before you store a lot of it.

Known Brands
Cheapest -  Once I bought a large supply of a no-name brand of chili. It tasted terrible! After trying several cans, we donated the rest to the food bank. I've unfortunately made the same mistake several times.

Better - Now I stick to buying brands that we've already tried, especially if I'm buying a lot.

Unfamiliar Foods
Cheapest - I mentioned this story once before, so forgive me for the repeat.  I found an awesome deal on Kix cereal.  I had young kids and was sure they would like it.  So, I bought tons.  Needless to say, they hated the cereal.  So again, after several creative tries to use it, I ended up donating most of it to the food bank. 

There is so much wisdom in the current recommendation to store three months of food that you already regularly eat.  I once read that kids will starve rather than eat unfamiliar food.  It's true that at some point, most of us, even kids, would eat almost anything rather than starve.  But I can honestly see my kids resisting and consequently whittling themselves down and compromising their health before they would get to that point. 

Better - I try to store food items and recipes that are tried and true.  We regularly introduce new foods to our kids, but I don't store those items until I know that they like it.  Sometimes that means I have to pay a higher price to get those familiar foods, but it prevents waste.

Seeds
Cheapest - I thought it would be a good idea to make sure that I had a full garden's worth of seeds for the next year in my storage.  It's fantastic to get those after-season deals each year and I thought I would be better prepared for next year.  I didn't realize, however, that some seeds have a very limited viability.  Onions seeds are a good example.  I plant green onion seeds every year.  But when I tried to grow onions from those season-old seeds,  I think I maybe got a handful of green onions at best.  "Bargain" seeds can have similar results. 

Better - When an entire harvest is dependent upon the quality of the seeds, it's best to choose name brands and buy in season.  One note here:  There are some seeds that are easily over wintered.  This is an area in which it pays to do a little homework.  You can also learn how to collect and preserve your own seeds.  This is a great self-reliance skill (that I'm still working on).

*****

You get the idea, right?  Though it is good to save money, it's better to be smart.  Don't buy bulk, store-brand, or even with a group order (even if it a killer deal) unless it is food that works with your own storage habits and your own family's tastes.  Sometimes it's worth it to spend a little extra money.

Wheat Prices

Just a heads up -

Updated August 2011 hard wheat prices (per pound):
$.36 - Maceys, Auguson Farms, 45 lb. bucket ($15.99) - recent sale price.
$.42 - Costco, Lehi Mills, 45 lb. bucket ($18.**)
$.46 - Family Home Storage Center (LDS Cannery), 25 lb. bag - needs to be repackaged.
$.60 - Family Home Storage Center (LDS Cannery), #10 cans.
$.86 - Honeyville Grain, 50 lb. bag - needs to be repackaged, shipping is $4.49 extra. ($.78 for bulk orders)
$.99 - Emergency Essentials, 45 lb. super-pail (lined with mylar bag), shipping is extra. ($.84 for bulk orders)

2010 for comparison (per pound):

$.23 - Family Home Storage Center (LDS Cannery), 25 lb bags - needs to be repackaged.

$.29 - Maceys, Morning Moo, 45 lb. bucket ($12.99 - sale may end on Wednesday).

$.30 - Costco, Lehi Mills, 45 lb. bucket ($13.50).

$.45 - Family Home Storage Center (LDS Cannery), #10 cans.

$.82 - Emergency Essentials, 45 lb. super-pail (lined with a mylar bag), shipping is extra.

$.89 - Honeyville Grain, 50 lb. bag - needs to be repackaged, shipping is $4.49 extra.

What are the prices of wheat in your area?

Ongoing Preparedness

There is no such thing as being perfectly prepared. It's impossible to anticipate every future problem that we will face. It's also impossible to *stay* prepared. There have been small moments in time that I've had everything that has been recommended. But soon enough, water needs to be rotated, food replaced and finances built up. For all of us preparedness is an ongoing process.

Over the past seven years, I have focused a great deal on my own personal home storage. We now have a decent three-month supply, more than 200 gallons of water stored, a financial reserve that could always use some more padding and 9 months of longer-term supplies. But as always, we draw from those reserves. There are quite a few items in my three-month supply that need to be replaced again. And of course, I'm waiting to replace my rice and flour buckets that are still sitting empty in my laundry room.

It's now been several years since I rotated my 55-gallon barrels of water. It's time to replace that water. I'm nervous about some possible contamination from a vehicle spill in my garage that could have compromised a full one-fourth of my water storage.

I recently purchased new clothing for our family 72-hour kits. Yes, it's probably crazy that I was putting *new* stuff into the kits. But after thinking of the many situations in which we might need the kits, I came to the conclusion that regardless of the emergency I would be more comfortable in something nicer than what I had previously chosen to store. I wanted clothing that fit well, was comfortable and would also be durable for work that would likely accompany the use of the kits. I also had come to understand that my teenage son might sit inside a tent or shelter rather than work - because he was too cool to wear the clothing that I stored for him. (I hadn't realized before that teenage boys care a lot more than we realize about these things - even in emergencies.) Unfortunately - or fortunately, My son and I liked our new pants so much that they never made it into our kits. So those pants need to be replaced *again.*

So, I currently have a pretty long catch-up list. I have found the need to plan for those catch-up lists as part of becoming prepared. Sometimes I purchase a little extra beyond my three-months' worth in order to keep on top of my goals as the reserves are being used up. But in the end, at some point, it all has to be replaced, rotated or restocked. Having an awareness of your preparedness supplies, can allow you to constantly replace supplies or you might set up a monthly or bi-monthly routine of evaulating your home-storage.

Instead of thinking of preparedness as an event, I recommend think of it as an ongoing process.

Powdered Milk Taste-Test

I love this post by Angela at Adventures in Self-Reliance. She got samples of most of the major powdered milk brands, conducted a taste test, and posted her results. She has some great information.

As you can see from her ratings, personal preference varied widely (with a few brands more broadly liked or disliked). As her tasters sampled one of the brands of milk, they were surprised to find out that they didn't like it. Angela writes, "I had some folks about cry when they found out how bad it tasted because that was the only kind they had stored."

Once again, this shows the importance of tasting the powdered milk that you store!

Cautions About Buying in Bulk

There are several great things about buying home storage in bulk. Usually the cost is lower and it is often more convenient to grab and store one bucket, bag, box or case. However, there is also a downside. When bulk items spoil, you usually lose a lot of product. It is also often more difficult to inspect bulk items adequately.

Last night I opened a case of mandarin oranges. I purchased them just a year ago at a case-lot sale. As I have organized and rotated my storage, it has been extremely convenient to deal with a box of mandarin orange cans rather than manage each can individually. The box, however, was sealed closed and I had not inspected the cans. I opened the box and fed each can into a rotating shelf. I was dismayed to find many dented cans and at least one that was leaking. The cans were all dusty and several were rusty at the bottom. I threw away multiple cans and was left with many questions about the others.

There is a lesson here for me. Obviously I'll need to be more aware in the future. My mandarin oranges are the most "unseeable" cans in cases. So, I'll likely open each box in the future and inspect the cans before I purchase them. My cases of canned vegetables are stacked and sealed with plastic, but I can see through the plastic. I definitely will look more closely. I will also look more closely for dings in cans, breaks in buckets and cracks in jars. Hopefully, in doing so, I'll have a more reliable storage and be able keep all the savings of buying in bulk.