I saw something on TV that said 50% of the dates on products are not based on anything to do with the food. Manufacturers just decide to date thing for 1 year or 6 months..whatever. It can help sales and customers prefer a date on things. I don;t follow them very specifically for shelf stable items.

White flour does not really go off. Wholewheat flour can turn a little unpleasant if the oils from the germ turn rancid.

Anonymous wrote:If you are baking with it, your food might not rise. If you're just cooking with it, no problem.

Heh... unless its self-rising flour, this makes no sense.

There is no leavening agent in plain flour.

Stick your nose in. (Don't sniff, just breathe normally.)

Smell bad? Toss. Not smell bad? Use.

If you are baking with it, your food might not rise. If you're just cooking with it, no problem.

Bug eggs? More protein, then, eh?

I just used expired flour - made the best scones ever.

Anonymous wrote:Bug eggs may not be visible to the naked eye. What's the reason for the expiration date then?

To sell more flour! Or, less cynically, to protect the brand by ensuring best taste.

Bug eggs aren't poison, btw. And if you can't see them, they can't bother you in terms of texture.

Bug eggs may not be visible to the naked eye. What's the reason for the expiration date then?

No. It turned to arsenic.

Sweet weeping jesus, woman, use your head. If there are no bugs in it and it smells like flour, what do you imagine could possibly have happened to it??

My DH insists that flour doesn't go bad quickly and even though the expiration says it expired last year, it's still good. I need to make a dish that requires flour and if I don't have time to run to the store, is it okay to use expired flour?