My sister shared a post today that really peaked my interest.  After reading it, I was even more curious and decided to look into it further.  After doing more research, I found many posts on social media discussing boxed cake & brownie mixes, pancake and biscuit mixes.  More importantly, people are talking about their concern for using the products after their expiration dates.   The discussions are talking about the potential for mold growth in the mixes after their expiration dates.  If that were to happen the mixes could become toxic and if you have certain allergies that can be lethal.    Then I had a flashback to a time when my sister and I were helping my dad clean his house.  We came across a ton of these boxed mixes in his pantry that were severely past their expiration dates.   My dad loves his brownies and doesn’t always pay attention to those expiration dates (some more than a year expired).  Thankfully he didn’t have any problems since the boxes were all still sitting in his pantry and we threw them away.  I hate to think of what could have happened had he eaten them.

All this talk makes my head spin.  We have seen so many news reports over the years with cases of E-coli in meats and other foods.  You hear about food being recalled from our local supermarkets or reports of E-coli breakouts that are linked back to our favorite restaurants.  Heck, I even had to double check a case of water bottles I recently bought because the store I bought it from had a recall on them for E-coli.  My bottled water? really!!  These type of reports seem to happen more frequently today and most people have probably gotten used to it.  We probably think “what’s next”?  More and more these days, it is hard to decipher what is and what is not safe to eat.    More importantly, what is safe to feed to our children.

I decided to look into this boxed cake (plus other mixes) further.  I ended up on the FAQ page of the company website (the company that puts their name on some of these products).  Interesting enough, they do post the question others are asking about the product after its “expiration date” and the possibility of mold.  However, the company only addresses what happens after the “best if used by” date.  Their only answer to use their product by the “best if used by” date is so that they can ensure quality, such as taste and texture.  They also say that they cannot ensure what the overall experience of the product will be (again only after the “best if used by” date).  No where do they address that expiration date other than the fact that the “Best if used by” date and the “expiration date” are two separate items.  They do not address the potential of what could happen to the product.  They simply suggest to store their product in a cool, dry place.  They also state they have no concern with the company that manufactures the product.   That could be true or that could be because they have no reported incidences.

To be quite honest, I don’t need to see an additional response from them.  I can say that I am not sure what could happen after that expiration date.  I can also say, with 100% certainty, that I do not want to find out.  With all the social media posts these days it is hard to know what to believe.  I realize that many topics get blown out of proportion and therefore not all true facts are discussed.  But, what I do know is cooking and baking my recipes from scratch is better.   It is better for you and better tasting.  I totally get that we are all busy and we are not all bakers or cooks or even like to cook for that matter and that is OK.   I am also guilty of using boxed mixes over the years.  Heck, who hasn’t used them?  Over the years, I have tried very hard to educate myself on cooking and using real ingredients.  When I cook and create recipes today, I have learned how to incorporate fresh ingredients and real products that have very few ingredients.  I like to know what I am cooking with and more importantly what I am feeding my family.  If that means it takes me a little longer to make a recipe than I am OK with that.    It is completely worth it.  There are plenty of simple ways and different ingredients to use to make pancakes, biscuits and even cakes, cupcakes and brownies without having to use a boxed mix.

I try not to take shortcuts with my food any longer.   Another example is cheese.  I won’t buy bags of shredded cheese anymore.  They add other ingredients and preservatives to the bag to ensure that it lasts longer and to keep it fresh.  I prefer my cheese to be “just cheese” thank you!  Instead I buy blocks of real cheese (with cheese being the only ingredient) and I shred it myself.  You can even freeze most cheeses if you do not plan to use it all right away.  For most sauces or salsa I also make them myself using fresh ingredients.  There are times when you get busy and you need to pick up something quick.  If you do that, read the labels to ensure that there are very few ingredients and nothing else added.  Tonight, my kids are eating some chicken tenders.  They are not frozen or pre-made (store bought); which again I’ll admit I used to buy/cook.  I used fresh chicken that I cut into strips then breaded and baked them.   I also made my daughter homemade honey mustard sauce to dip them into.  I simply mixed some Organic Dijon mustard (with very few ingredients) and some Agave (you can use honey instead if you do not have Agave).  That is it and she loves it!  My kids even say how much better they taste then the store-bought ones.  Another bonus to making dishes from scratch, it is less expensive to make them.  I can make quite a few chicken tenders or nuggets from 2 pieces of chicken breasts.

So, be sure to look at those labels.  Look at the ingredient list and that expiration date.  If the ingredient list is too long to read or you cannot pronounce the name of the ingredients you may want to consider putting it back on the shelf.  If you do buy boxed mixes just be sure to check those dates.  If you are holding onto them past their expiration date then maybe it wasn’t worth buying in the first place.  In any event, throw it out!!  It just isn’t worth the chance of finding out what could happen.

When you can, eat fresh, eat real ingredients.  What’s that old advice? Stick to the outer aisles in your supermarket and skip the ones in the middle?! Try it and see the difference between the foods placed in the outer aisles compared to the inner ones.

Mangia! Enjoy!