6 Foods You Should Never Eat Past The Expiration Date, According to Doctors

Not all expiration dates are flexible—experts explain which foods turn risky once they pass their prime.

Key Takeaways

• Expiration dates matter for food safety. While some pantry staples can last past their “sell-by” dates, the “use-by” or expiration date marks the last day certain foods—like meat and dairy—can be safely eaten.

• Certain high-risk foods should always be discarded once expired. Raw meat, deli meats, unpasteurized cheeses, and mushrooms can quickly grow harmful bacteria like salmonella, Listeria, or E. coli after their expiration date.

• Proper storage can extend freshness but not safety past expiration. Keeping foods like mushrooms dry or salads well-sealed can delay spoilage, but expired items should still be thrown out to prevent foodborne illness.

Stocking and re-stocking food can feel like an endless chore of provisioning your pantry and refrigerator. And there’s perhaps nothing worse than tossing a wilted bunch of greens or a grey-hued container of burger meat, knowing you spent money on the ingredient and will be wasting the food. But food safety is important, and tossing potentially hazardous food is essential to keeping yourself and anyone you’re feeding safe.

At the supermarket, most packaged foods are labeled with an expiration date and perhaps a “sell-by” date. The sell-by date is a marker for the store to swap out the product with a fresher one, and at home, you can typically eat non-perishables long after the sell-by date. It may not be quite as delicious as when it was fresher, but the likelihood of getting sick eating food after its sell-by date is low. The expiration date (or the “use-by” date), however, is more indicative of food safety and flags the last day a food can be safely enjoyed before it becomes potentially hazardous or toxic. 

MEET the EXPERT

• Dr. Cynthia Odogwu, MD, a family medicine doctor based in Maryland

Some foods can be safely enjoyed a few days after their expiration date (think frozen meals, dried pastas, spices, and honey), but others pose a real risk and should be tossed if you can’t eat them on their last safe day. Here are the most essential foods to throw out once they expire: 

1 - Raw Meat

“Raw meats such as chicken, beef, and pork should not be consumed after their expiry date,” says Dr. Cynthia Odogwu, MD. “They are likely to go bad and grow harmful bacteria such as salmonella and E.coli, which cause foodborne illnesses.” 

2 - Raw Fish and Seafood

Just like raw meat, raw fish past its expiration date is a food safety hazard. Fish should be eaten the day it’s purchased, and within 48 hours it’s considered expired. Signs of a hazardous fish filet include a slimy texture and a bad smell, more reminiscent of cleaning chemicals than the sea. 

3 - Deli Meat and Cold Cuts

“Once ready-to-eat deli meats and cold cuts expire, it is necessary to throw them out,” says Dr. Odogwu. “This is because they can become contaminated with Listeria, which can continue to grow even when refrigerated.” Any deli meat that’s suspiciously grey or green in color or slimier than normal has expired.

4 - Packaged Salads

“Throw out pre-packaged, ready-to-eat salads once they expire,” says Dr. Odogwu. “This is because as their expiry date gets nearer, the amount of germs in them grows. These germs can both cause the salad to spoil and make one sick.” Pay attention to the date on the container, and if you condense the packaged salads into a new container, write the expiry date on a piece of tape and stick it on. 

5 - Unpasteurized Cheeses

“Unpasteurized cheeses, such as brie, should be thrown out once they expire because they can become contaminated with bacteria such as Listeria,” explains Dr. Odogwu. This goes for other fresh cheeses, including feta, queso fresco, and pretty much all soft cheese wheels.

6 - Mushrooms

You don’t want to eat spoiled fungi. Mushrooms that have started to get slimy or significantly discolored need to be tossed, as they can carry bacteria in them—possibly botulism or other toxins that can leave you very sick with food poisoning, or worse. The best way to store mushrooms is to keep them in a paper bag, lined with a paper towel, in the fridge, so that they don’t absorb excess moisture and expire too quickly.