Need an Answer - Chicago,IL

Updated on July 31, 2011
S.S. asks from Chicago, IL
18 answers

One person in my family bought a box of new Honey nut cheerios from the the market. He wanted to put the box in the pantry. On opening the pantry he found a container that had some old honey nut cheerios as well. He knew that cheerios are perishable. Yet he gladly mixed the new cereals from the box (that he has bought from the market recently) inside the container having the old cereal.

Now the question is, Should he be mixing the old cereals with the new one?

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So What Happened?

Thanks everyone for their views. You guys are always right. We all will make a conscious effort to finish old things first before we coem to new ones. Thanks again and cheers..

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L.M.

answers from New York on

I would say no big deal because cereal has a long shelf life and chances are you'll eat the entire container long before it goes bad.

Keep in mind the "expiration date" on cereal doesn't mean it's expired and needs to be thrown out. The "expiration date" is the recommended use by date. Add that to the fact that keeping it in an airtight container also keeps it fresh much longer, especially in this humid weather.

5 moms found this helpful

M.L.

answers from Houston on

Cheerios aren't exactly perishable . They do get stale and nutrients aren't as potent, but they don't really mold like say, milk or meat would. It wouldn't bother me so long as the old box of Cheerios aren't more than say a year old. And even if Cheerios was recalled and that old box was thrown out, if you are really panicked then throw out the new box. $3 worth of Cheerios down the drain isn't going to be a major loss.

That's one reason why I don't allow new boxes to be opened until the last is gone. I actually have a spot in which I have rolled up bags of 'old cereal". I usually take that bag and stuff it in the new cereal box, so it will be the first thing used.

2 moms found this helpful

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A.M.

answers from San Francisco on

Who spends that much time messing around with cereal boxes? Someone in your family is very organized.

7 moms found this helpful

S.M.

answers from Kansas City on

In my family it would be just fine. It has to get moldy to be dangerous. We go through cereal extremely fast. I can't say about yours. It's likely fine if you eat cereal a few days per week.

6 moms found this helpful

J.H.

answers from San Antonio on

How old are the Cheerios that are "old"?

So long as they're not months and months past their expiration, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Cereal is never around our house long enough to expire so I'm not sure how long it can stay open before getting stale or anything else.

5 moms found this helpful
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S.B.

answers from Redding on

If the old box hasn't been open in the cupboard for a couple years and the cheerios so stale they they'd chip a tooth trying to eat them, it should be fine. Dry cereal doesn't rot.
You say he found a "container" with cheerios. Was it a sealed container like Tupperware? If that's the case, it's likely moisture wouldn't be a problem.

No one will get food poisoning from eating "old" dry cereal.
I don't know what it is about cereal, but when you buy a new box, the new box gets opened and no one wants to finish the last of the cereal in the old box. I don't see what it hurts to mix it. Cereal doesn't last long enough in my house with a teenage son to worry about that.

I wouldn't be overly concerned about it.
Just my opinion.

5 moms found this helpful

C.W.

answers from Lynchburg on

Hi SS-

In our family, a box of cheerios is never around LONG enough to 'expire'...

I would imagine some of the older 'O's' might taste stale...but I can NOT imagine they would actually go 'bad' with all the preservatives etc that are in them...

Best Luck!
Michele/cat

4 moms found this helpful
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S.S.

answers from Daytona Beach on

it just starts to taste stale. not fresh and crunchy like it should. other than that, not a big deal i would think

4 moms found this helpful

G.T.

answers from Redding on

Well depending on how quickly they go through it it might not be a problem. He should have rotated it tho, poured the older cereal out, put the new in and then topped it off with the old. Cereal lasts awhile unless you leave it open and it gets stale.

3 moms found this helpful

B.G.

answers from Los Angeles on

If he is going to eat them all soon, I don't see a problem. If the old cereal is really old, then definitely not!

2 moms found this helpful

A.G.

answers from Houston on

well that depends on if it was stale. itll be fine either way. Sounds like you have a plastic cereal holder like i do (it keeps it fresh longer) Ive never left my cereal in its original box since the day i poured my cereal and a cockroach came out.

*shudders*

Now i keep everything attainable by any bug or mouse sealed tight or in my fridge.

2 moms found this helpful
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B.M.

answers from Chicago on

Hi SS

"Perishable" means it has to be refrigerated or kept below a certain temp or it will spoil. Unless your cheerios are mixed with something (like yogurt, which IS perishable) they will be fine.

Items that are not perishable have an expiration date at which the nutrients start to break down. So if you eat expired dry goods a month or two after the date your just reducing the amount of riboflavin or whatever has been added. It's not necessarily harmful.

2 moms found this helpful

C.O.

answers from Washington DC on

I personally wouldn't do it...unless they were going to be eaten that day...so why bother? I wait until the cereal is empty before opening a new one...

i only let my boys have three (3) boxes of cereal open at one time....

1 mom found this helpful

J.B.

answers from Houston on

I personally would not worry about it, it's just cheerios. I mean if the old one had been in there for a really long time maybe. But cheerios don't last too long around here ;)

1 mom found this helpful

J..

answers from Nashville on

Just to be safe, I don't eat anything that has it's date expired.

= )

1 mom found this helpful

G.M.

answers from Phoenix on

I wouldn't mix anything like that because if the manufacturer recalls the food for a potential bateria, etc., you will need to know that NDC# or Product number that is being recalled. If you mix the two boxes, your product number is mixed up and you won't know which is which. I would keep them separate. Finish the old box first, then start on the fresh box. :-)

After you open any cereal, you are letting air in, and therefore it will dry out your cereal and it will start to taste stale. Even if you use a separate container for your cereal, each time you open that container, you let air in.

Due to the possibility of recalls, I would keep them and all of your products separated. ;-D

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A.M.

answers from Chicago on

No. Cereals have an expiration date.

T.N.

answers from Albany on

BAHAHAWAHA!

Hilarious! No we should not be mixing the old with the new. It's called 'product rotation'.

Does this 'Someone' also put the milk carton back in the fridge empty? (Look up my last question)

:)

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