SC - OT - freezing things

[Philip & Susan Troy]

LrdRas at aol.com wrote:
> 
> It makes logical sense but in practicality it is not an accurate observation.
> When the food used by the bacteria is used up the growth process stops.

True, if there's only one bacteria strain and only one food source
involved. If that were the case sour cream would never go bad.

> Anyway, my experience has been that an unopened container of sour cream can
> be kept well past the expiration date.

My experience, too. However...

> A quick phone call to the county
> agricultural office confirmed that expiration dates are only for the last
> date of sale and have no bearing on subsequent shelf life which varies by
> product.

Then why are they there? It's not that they have no bearing, but it's
that they are frequently inaccurate by some factor. Their purpose is as
a _conservative estimate_ of how long the product will last under proper
storage with no diminution of quality. They'd like the product to be
sold and eaten by that date, because they don't want people criticizing
the quality of their product. If people complain about huge clots of
plaid mold in their product six months after the expiration date, they
can say that the expiration date was stamped on the packaging to prevent
that, and the consumer chose to ignore it. If there's no problem, so
much the better.

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com