I had some tests of different expired food from my stockpiles on here, but I can't find them now, So I'm just starting a new thread. A little background... When I started stockpiling, I bought mostly canned food. I found it to be cheap and easy to find. Besides, I had read in a couple of places that canned food doesn't really expire when the date on the can says so. Some canned food has been found to be safe to eat many, many years later. Of course, that doesn't mean that it's always appetizing, just that it won't kill you. Still, my philosophy of prepping is that you should first build up your stockpile using canned food from the grocery store to build up six months or so of food, then shift to freeze-dried long term storage.
I have been testing out-of-date foods for a while. Some of them survive well past the expiration date, others, not so much. Every thing I have stored is in an air-conditioned storage room in my garage, with the a/c set at about 78 degrees. Here are the latest things I have tested:
Fat Free Long Shelf Life Milk: Expiration Date, December 2013. Test Date, September 2014. Smelled OK, but had large clumps in it. Probably safe, but very unappetizing. I wouldn't trust it.
Ketchup: Expiration Date, June 2013. Test Date, August 2014. Color had changed to a dark red. Smelled and tasted OK. City Girl wouldn't eat it because it looked bad. I ate it and it seemed fine.
Ragu Spaghetti Sauce: Expiration Date, April 2010. Test Date, July 2014. Color had changed to a very dark red. Smelled OK. City Girl refused to eat it. She said it needed to be thrown away, even though it smelled fine.
Albacore Tuna in Water: Expiration Date, April 2013. Test Date, August 2014. Looked and tasted fine. No problems.
My tests are not scientific, but may give you an indication of what items do not store well. Dairy and tomato products seem to not hold up that well past the expiration dates. Meats seem to do better.