There are two types of people in this world. Those who throw stuff out the exact moment it expires, down to the second, as if one minute past the date turns it into radioactive material. And those who hold onto things for years, convinced that a bottle of salad dressing from 2011 still has plenty of life left in it.
The latter crowd has found their spiritual home on r/GrandmasPantry. It’s a subreddit where folks post ancient relics they’ve unearthed around their homes, from mystery cans buried in the back of a cupboard to cleaning supplies that haven’t seen the light of day in decades. Scroll down for the best finds.
#1 38 Year Old Brownies
There’s a sad story to these nearly 4 decade old brownies. My great aunt, who lives with dementia, had a son who tragically passed away at 12 in 1986. Not long before, he baked these brownies for her, and ever since then they have sat in the back of her refrigerator. We found it while going through her fridge. I won’t take off the lid until we decide to throw it out (which surely will be soon) but it seems like they’ve aged without growing mold, which is mildly concerning, but pretty cool.
#2 In My Grandma’s First Aid Kit…
#3 100 Year Old Sandwich Found
Of course, most of us probably don’t keep expired things around because we’re trying to build a little museum of forgotten groceries at home. It’s just surprisingly easy to put off jobs we don’t feel like doing, and clearing things out is one of them.
Before we know it, that bottle of sauce we bought for one recipe to impress a date has been sitting in the fridge for five years, while a jar of fancy jam we got in a Christmas hamper is still tucked away at the back of a cupboard. We keep telling ourselves we’ll sort it all out later, but somehow “later” never seems to arrive.
#4 I Will Never Throw These Away
#5 Unopened Welches Jelly Jar From 1994
#6 My Mom’s Full Unopened Coca Cola Gallon Jug. 1966
At least when something has survived several birthdays in the fridge, we usually know we shouldn’t be eating it, even if we still can’t bring ourselves to throw it away. Things get less obvious when the expiration date has only just passed.
Say we wake up to make coffee and notice the milk is a day or two past the date on the carton. It smells perfectly fine. Do we pour it away anyway, or can we still use it?
#7 Medicine Collection Found In Grandmas Stash
#8 Unopened Soap From 1940
#9 My Dad Bought This Ham Back In 1992. It’s Been In His Freezer The Whole Time. He Refuses To Throw It Out And Says “It’s Still Good. Frozen Meat Doesn’t Go Bad”
That depends partly on what the label actually says. In the US, the USDA explains that “Best if Used By” or “Best if Used Before” is about when the food should be at its best quality. It isn’t a safety deadline. So if that date passed yesterday, the food didn’t suddenly transform at midnight.
The USDA says properly stored food can still be eaten after a best-by date if it shows no signs of spoilage. Infant formula is one important exception. The FDA requires it to carry a use-by date, and that date should be followed because the formula needs to provide the nutrients stated on the label.
#10 Radium Hand Cleaner Found In Grandma’s Pantry
#11 My Grandma Passed Away In 1982. I Went Back In Her House For The First Time Since That Day
#12 Found In My Papas Medicine Cabinet
Eventually, though, food really does start to go bad. This happens because microorganisms such as bacteria are already present around us and can make their way onto food. Once they have enough moisture and the right temperature, they begin multiplying and feeding on the nutrients in it.
As they do, they produce substances that can change the food’s smell or texture, which is when we start noticing that something is off. Refrigeration slows their growth, but it doesn’t stop spoilage completely. That’s why a carton of milk can stay fresh for days in the fridge and then gradually turn sour as microorganisms continue to grow.
#13 Phillip Just Turned 9
#14 Found Some Coppertone Sunscreen With The Original Logo At My Parent’s House
#15 I Was Given 6 Bags Of Food, And Nearly All Of It Expired More Than A Decade Ago
A family friend made a big deal all weekend about bringing me six bags of food for me and my wife to go through and dump the rest off at the “blessings pantry”…. This is some of it!
The best part: The Ghirardellis mint chips and dumpling mix are so antique they don’t even have an expiry date. Exciting, we love old food youtubes!
The sun-dried tomatoes (2009) are congealed into a whole new product, may patent it…
Thought about eating that 2008 dark chocolate because damn! The caviar has no date, not sure if it’s even that old, but… no.
The rancid smell coming off that Crisco (2007) was intense. The cheese fantastico bottle was creating a vacuum, may implode one day, may keep for science. And wtf is Molly McButter!!
She even suggested I give all the pouch tunas (2011-2014) to my elderly dog, so basically I’m thinkin she’s trying to end us all.
At the same time, the FDA warns that the bacteria that make us sick can be different from the ones that make food obviously spoil. Something can still look and smell completely normal while harmful bacteria are present.
So our senses can help us notice when food has gone bad, but they can’t always tell us whether it’s safe to eat. When there’s a real reason to doubt something, especially if it hasn’t been stored properly, it’s safer not to take the chance.
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#16 World War I Soup On My Great Aunt’s Fridge
This soup was made for the German Army in World War I. It went unused and sat in the back of a store owned by my great aunt.
When she retired, she put it on her fridge, where it stayed for decades. This is a picture of it in 2017.
In 2022 she passed away at 96 and the house was sold.
Found out today the soup was trashed.
#17 Found In My Grandma’s Bathroom
#18 My Mom Is Upset I Won’t Give My Kids The Candy She Had Saved “A While Back”
Some foods, however, can technically last forever under the right conditions. Honey is one of them. According to Utah State University, commercial honey can have an indefinite shelf life because its high sugar content and low moisture make it very difficult for microbes to grow.
It may crystallize or change over time, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it has spoiled. Salt can also last indefinitely as long as it stays dry and free from contamination.
#19 A Few Gems From My 102-Year Old Grandmother’s Kitchen Cabinets
#20 Dad Cleaned Out Grandma’s House After A Family Incident, Found This
#21 Found A Relic From 1988 While Cleaning At Work
At the same time, bacteria aren’t always the enemy. We humans are a creative lot, and we’ve figured out how to put bacteria to work on purpose. Instead of ruining what we eat, the right ones can actually make food taste better and help it last longer. That’s exactly what happens during fermentation.
Certain bacteria feed on the sugars in foods like sauerkraut or pickles and produce acid along the way. As the food becomes more acidic, many unwanted microbes have a harder time growing. So when fermentation is done properly, those helpful bacteria can preserve the food while giving it the distinctive flavor we’re after.
#22 Found In My Boyfriend’s Pantry
#23 Orbitz From The Late 90s!
#24 My Septuagenarian Mom Still Has Her ’97 Softsoap Container To Match Her ’97 Fish Bathroom
All of this means the date printed on our food is useful, but it doesn’t always signal an immediate trip to the trash. Something that slipped past its best-by date yesterday is very different from a mystery jar that’s been hiding in a cupboard since the ’90s.
Still, it’s always worth being careful. If something has been stored improperly or gives you any reason to doubt it, leaving it uneaten is probably the smarter choice.
#25 Lion King Shampoo
#26 Old Box Of Nerds
#27 80’s Gatorade
#28 Rely Tampons At An Estate Sale- A Bit Of A Scary Find
#29 Jars Of Baby Food From 1994. Grandmother Said “It’s Ok. Don’t Throw It Away”
#30 Grandma’s Guest Room Bathroom Drawer. 30 Years Old?
#31 Now That I’m Old Enough To Be A Grandma, My Sealed Pokemon Jelly Jars
#32 How Groovy Can The Pantry Get?
#33 All About Those 90s Sparkles
#34 1993 Mr. Bubbles
#35 1997 Miracle Whip Found In My Great Uncles House
#36 Found When Cleaning Out My Mothers Closet
#37 Living In My Freezer Since Late 1999
Millennipede! The blue things used to be stuck on its back but it molted.
My mom gave it to me late 1999. It sat on the counter for a while and I didn’t have the heart to throw it away before New Year (you can tell it would taste terrible so eating it never crossed my mind) so I stuck it in the freezer.
On my 3rd freezer, but original Millennipede.
#38 1940’s Unused Roll Of Toilet Paper
#39 Found In The Attic Of Our 1960’s Rental
#40 Found This In An Old Hersheys Tin In Grandma’s Pantry. Old Diet Pill From The 80s That Was Banned By The Fda In The 90s. Still Full
#41 “There’s Some Tissues In The Glovebox”
#42 My Grandma Quite Drinking Cola Over Thirty Years Ago. Today, After Cutting Her Grass, I Asked Her If She Had Anything Other Than Milk And Water To Drink. She Told Me There Was A Coke In The Crisper Drawer…to Which I Discovered An 80’s Relic
#43 A Gentleman I Deliver To Had These In A Vintage Pepsi Vending Machine
#44 Let’s Bring Back Whimsy
#45 Thirsty Anyone?
#46 Old Bay And Old, Old Bay
#47 *grandma’s Freezer
#48 Bought These Off A Walgreens Shelf 3 Days Ago
#49 Pulled This Out Of A Box In My Dad’s Attic Labeled Camping Supplies
#50 Saw This At A Thrift Store. 1988 Is The Date On The Bottle
#51 Told My Grandmother My Shoulders Hurt…she Scurried Off To The Guest Bath And Returned With This
#52 Grandma’s Freezer
#53 I Specifically Went To This Estate Sale To Check Out The Bathroom And Household Goods
#54 Unopened Welch’s Grape Jelly From 1995
#55 Chips From ’94
#56 “Let’s Store These Away And Never Use Them”
#57 Found This In A Backpack From My Partner’s Childhood. Expired 20 Years Ago… LOL
#58 My Dad Poured This In His Mouth Then Asked If I Could Read The Date On It
#59 Cleaning Out My Grandma’s Pantry And I Found These Jarred Preserves From 1964
#60 Toothpicks Infused With Hexachlorophene
#61 For Sale In A General Store In Rural Virginia
#62 Freshen Up
#63 “It’s Fine, It Might Just Be A Little Dry”
#64 Husband Found While Working On A Job
#65 Shampoo At My Aunt’s House
Date on back days 1995-1998. Smells fine.
#66 From My Dad’s Stash
#67 1976 Kraft French Dressing
#68 Figured It Would Be A Good Time To Post This Doritos Bag From The Late ’70s I Found Last Year In A Park
#69 Found In The Walls Of A House By Plumbers, Dated 1984
#70 Found This Deep In A Closet. Wtf Is Cragmont? Why Is This Adult Dressed As A Clown Baby????
#71 My Dad Brought Over Some “Never-Opened Baby Powder” To Help With My Twins…
#72 I Never Even Heard Of Chicken Tonight Until Today
#73 Found In The Break Room Fridge At Work. It’s Still Green
#74 Sealed Chips Back From 2001!!
#75 Found In The Freezer At My Work
#76 I Ate Approx. 20 Year Old Gushers
#77 Found A 1970s Pepsi Light In An Ice Chest Of My Great Grandparents Workshop
#78 God-Tier Pull
#79 According To The September ’93 Date On This, I Last Brushed My Teeth With This Toothpaste When I Was 11 Years Old
#80 The Ancient Macaroni And Cheese
#81 Found These At The Thrift Store. Still Sealed!
#82 Went To My Dad’s For Burgers Tonight. He Took These Pickles Out Of The Pantry
#83 I Was Told To Post This Here, Found It In My Mils House. Contest Details Say 1987
#84 Wondered Why My Tea Didn’t Taste Like Much
#85 Carbonated Vaseline
#86 Found In The Back Of My Family’s Vacation Beach House… Any Guesses As To Production Date?
#87 Baby Food Saved From When I Was A Baby. I’m In My Late 30s
