Expiration Date

[himawari]

Hey guys I was wondering if you have any experience/knowledge with/about expired rad cat food. I'm asking because an acquaintance of mine has been feeding her cats with expired rad cat food and from what she told me it hasn't done anything unusual with her cats. I always assumed that the expiration date on any items is mandatory so anything expired should be thrown out but idk. I contacted Rad Cat to ask about it too but no reply yet.

She said she was willing to give me some of her expired meats free of charge but I'm not too sure. I am low on money so it would be a huge save for me. Thoughts?

 

[jcat]

It probably depends on how far past the date it is. A few days shouldn't matter. It's generally a "Best by" date, meaning the producer will only guarantee the quality up to that date, not that the food abruptly becomes inedible. What's more important is that the cooling chain was maintained. You do have to be extra cautious with ground meat, though, and strictly observe the date, if you feed it at all

 

[himawari]

So it should only be past a week or two after the "best by" date? I'm not too sure if it was maintained properly or not. All she told me was that it was in a freezer. Wouldn't it be disrupted if she hands it to me (since she lives about an hour away)?

 

[jcat]

It could go in a cooler or be packed in dry ice. What you don't want to do is let it thaw and then refreeze it.