Expiration Dates Mean Little On Food Products

HOUSTON -- Many shoppers reach to the back of the grocery store cooler to pick their gallon of milk.

But Houston television station KPRC reported Wednesday that checking for expiration dates can be described as an exercise in futility.

Jon Oxley was surprised at his food's expiration date after he brought it home from a convenience store, Stop 'N Joy.

"This is food that we bought last week. Some of it is nearly a month out of date," Oxley said.

He used to buy microwave meals from the store.

"Both the meat and the potatoes were the same color," Oxley said.

He checked the expiration date on the can he bought at the store and then called Hormel.

"They came back and said it was five years old and it had been expired for over three years," Oxley said.

He then called the station, and what it found might surprise you.

Armed with hidden cameras, the station bought five different, questionable products at the store.

They all had expired dates -- some as much as three weeks old.

But the investigators found something else surprising.

"It is not illegal for them to sell products past the expiration date," said Juan Munguia, with the Houston Health Department.

The Health Department said those dates are really nothing more than a marketing tool that manufacturers use to sell and move their products.

"When we go in as inspectors, we don't look at those dates," Munguia said.

Inspectors may recommend that a storeowner rotate the product or get rid of it, but it's up to the store's discretion.

At the Stop 'N Joy, a worker told the station that employees routinely change out the product.

The station was told that the owner could not speak to it because he was out buying fresh products to restock store shelves.

According to the health department, there is no universal system for expiration dates, so they are really of no use for quality control.

Instead, inspectors look at other factors such as temperature, smell and color.

City ordinance requires the health department to check convenience stores twice a year.

The only time an inspector can require a store to throw out a product is if it is a "puffy" can, one that shows signs of being contaminated by bacteria.

Despite not checking expiration dates, the health department will respond to customer complaints regarding expired products.

But Oxley said he would continue checking the dates.

"I'll keep an eye on what I buy. I'm not buying any more packaged food products," he said.