A warning about food poisoning!

Iris L.

This is embarrassing because I do know better, but I believe I must warn you who are caregiving your parent or other relative who lives alone.  The other night, I had an episode of vomiting and decided it was due to food poisoning.  I checked what I had eaten and a bottle of yogurt smoothie had a best by date of 7/20/21.  I drank it on 8/6/21, over two weeks later.  It did not taste spoiled and I had not checked the date before drinking.  I have another yogurt which has a best by date of 7/9/21.  I had to check all the food in my refrigerator and freezer.  I had a frozen entree from 5/22/21.  

I never had this problem before and had to think, why  now?  I believe the reason is due to Covid.  Last year and even this year there were food shortages.  I got in the habit of stocking up, whereas in the past, I shopped weekly and just bought what I needed for a week, so I knew what I had and everything was fresh.  But now, there is too much food in my refrigerator and freezer and I can't keep up with what I have because my memory is not strong. 

Now that I know this will be an issue, I'll have to figure out a way to keep up with my stored food while avoiding shortages.  I suppose I'll have to rely more on canned foods.  Those of you who are caregivers, check your parent's refrigerator and freezer once in a while for outdated food.

Iris

Emily 123

Yogurt. 5/23/21

Salad dressing 4/5/21

Good eye, Iris!  

ladyzetta

Thanks for the reminder Iris, I am going to go look in my refrigerator and see if anything has expired. I was surprised when I found out that cans also have expiration dates on them. I had to threw out some can goods a few years ago.

Stuck in the middle

Nonprescription meds expire too.

dayn2nite2

Thank you!

Butter - 7/20/21

BassetHoundAnn

Words of wisdom, Iris! Thank you for the reminder! I'm glad you are feeling better. 

I'm also guilty of Covid-hoarding. A few months ago I went through the frig, freezer and pantry and either used or got rid of everything that had been stockpiled at the start of the pandemic. Having been distracted by the overwhelming task of caring for mom I was surprised that things like the pantry had been so badly neglected and we were all in danger of food poisoning. 

Something I discovered when the dairy products in the frig were all going bad: the evaporator motor in the freezer compartment was dying. Food in the freezer was still frozen, but temperatures in the refrigerator section below weren't as cold as they should be to keep milk and yogurt from spoiling. 

Why was the evaporator motor dying? Probably because I had jammed the freezer section with so much food--more Covid stockpiling, that there wasn't sufficient air circulation. 

Something to think about. Again, thank you for this important reminder, Iris! 

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Stuck in the middle

That's funny!  

Iris L.

Thanks for the music, Victoria!  

No, I am not beating myself up.  This is more a wake-up call to myself that I have to be more diligent about my daily living with cognitive impairment.  Covid changed my shopping routine, so I have to become more disciplined in the food area.

Iris