Yogurt expiration dates

[HappyFox05]

How long do you keep yogurt past the expiration date? Can the fitness of yogurt be judged soley on smell?

[AGlimmeringHope]

I only keep it until the expiration date, but I'm paranoid about any dairy product that way.

[ohiomommy1122]

Originally Posted by AGlimmeringHope

I only keep it until the expiration date, but I'm paranoid about any dairy product that way.

me too

[starry_mama]

I would judge it by its smell. Is it pasteurized?

[weliveintheforest]

if there is no mold, I eat it!

[HappyFox05]

The milk it was made with was pasteurized, but the yogurt itself wasn't. There's no funky smell or mold & it still tastes normal. It was expired when the commisary sold it to us, but we'd already opened it before we noticed the date. So I'm being a little stubborn about throwing it away, since we just bought it. Plus, we've always been curious about that. Since yogurt already starts w/little buggys in it, what does the expiration date mean? Do the good buggys go bad, or do they just die off?

[starry_mama]

if it smells fine and has no mold, eat it! If it was dangerously bad for you, it would be obvious.

[beqh27]

I read somewhere that yogurt keeps for at least a week after the printed expiration date. I always go by my nose--if it's smelly, I chuck it. You can tell if dairy products are "off."

[HappyFox05]

I googled it & couldn't find a good answer (that is, an answer from someone who actually makes yogurt), so I wrote Stonyfield. Their reply made me happy, cause it's what I was doing anyway. I think now I can attribute the new onset of gas (sorry TMI) to the Lactaid milk.

"The date on our yogurt container is the sell-by date. For the freshest taste and best quality, we recommend that you eat our yogurt by this date. Since this isn’t the date when the yogurt necessarily goes bad, it can be perfectly okay to eat the yogurt after the sell-by date. Just use your judgment. If the yogurt looks, smells and tastes good, it's okay to eat."