The other day I found a partial container of cream cheese frosting in the refrigerator and pulled out an opened package of graham crackers to make my favorite snack. My mom commented that the graham crackers looked a little pale, but I figured it was just a different brand or something and started spreading frosting on one square. But then I noticed an odd smell, sort of a cross between musty and rancid. I sniffed around the kitchen a little bit to find the source of this new foul odor--it was not the sink or the garbage can, it was the graham cracker.
Totally sick.
I threw the package away and got out an new package from the same box, assuming that the graham crackers had spoiled because they had been open for too long. The new package looked similarly white, and as soon as I opened it, I caught the same awful smell and chucked the whole thing in the trash.
"Maybe the graham crackers went bad," my mom said.
"Is that possible?" I said.
"Well, see if there's an expiration date on the box."
I pulled out the now empty graham cracker box a located a small stamped "best if used by" date: October 2007.
Apparently, we don't eat graham crackers very often at my house. But my mom and I are pretty sure we fed some of the well-beyond-shelf-life crackers to my nieces and nephew as they have visited over the past year. Disgusting. Fortunately, they are all still alive.
And since I found another new box of graham crackers--brown, crisp, fresh-smelling, and still good until some time next year--I still got to have my snack.
Important life lessons learned:
1. Any food with an expiration date really can go bad.
2. Graham crackers are supposed to be brown, no matter what brand they are.
3. Small children have no sense of taste or smell.
4. Spoiled graham crackers are gross, but will not actually kill you.
5. People who don't eat graham crackers very often should not buy the big box, even if it is more cost effective.
9 years ago
