Eating expired natto?

24 comments

1. It depends: does it say 賞味期限 (best taste date) or 消費期限 (best not to eat after this date)?

   [https://www.maff.go.jp/j/syokuiku/kodomo_navi/featured/abc2.html](https://www.maff.go.jp/j/syokuiku/kodomo_navi/featured/abc2.html)

2. I can see where the sniff test on natto wouldn’t work.

3. People in my family eat *natto* daily. I wouldn’t hesitate to eat it three days after its best taste date and would probably risk eating it after its best not to eat date (though not plain). The taste will differ the older it gets.

   I don’t think I’d give it to our child, though, after the 消費期限.

4. I’ve eaten natto quite a bit past the exp date. Never noticed anything strange except it became a bit dry.

5. No problem if it expires two or three days. The days is for tasting good, not wasting or not. Go ahead.

6. I have eaten natto 2 weeks after expiration date, and nothing happened. The beans dry up a little, but no change in taste. Different Japanese website says up to 3-5 days after 賞味期限is still ok, but no more. Oops 🤷🏻‍♀️

7. Try a few beans first. If it’s disgusting, then it’s ok.

8. It’s natto. 3 days should be fine. But if you are worried, follow the rule – if in doubt, throw it out.

   Natto not that expensive. You won’t be wasting that much money.

9. Natto is the only known food that actually starts to smell better after it expires…

10. If it moves or blinks at you it is bad, with fermented foods they often are edible for quite a while so what you describe sounds OK

11. in my experience, almost all fermented foods are alright for a couple of days (and roughly up to a week) after the expiration date.

12. I regularly eat natto and tofu days past the “expiration date” but then again, I am in Japan so the quality might be better? Once I take the wrapper off the 3-pack, I don’t know what the date was anyway.

13. If it starts smelling good, best throw it out.

14. It’s already fermented so…

15. I’ve had it over a month after expiration date. Finished all 3 packs that it usually comes in. I was fine from it. Beans just dried up a bit.

16. It doesn’t really go bad, after as few days past expiration it just gets hard and dry.

17. Hm, it’s probably ok.

    On the bright side, if it’s not ok, your guts will get some extra exercise.

    Arrrrr, I remember having a Yakult that was about two (2) weeks past its best before. They weren’t joking. It didn’t make me ill, but it really pushed the outer limits of the structural specifications of our bog.

18. More anecdotal evidence: we’ve eaten it multiple weeks past the expiration date and it was fine other than being a bit dry.

    Smell it, check visually, And if it passes those tests go for it. I’ve had better luck cooking with it when it gets dried out

19. Sniff test should work (well maybe wont work for some gaijin nose). But natto is cheap enough to not risk it. Just throw it away.

    I made a mistake in the past by storing them in cabinet instead of fridge. When I opened it it smelled awful.

20. FYI, natto doesn’t have a expiration date, only a “best before” date so few days past is def ok. Weeks is ok in my experience

21. I wouldn’t eat anything that’s past expiration or smells funny.
    Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

22. There are two types of expiration date in Japan.

    賞味期限 – it’s ok to eat past the expiration, but the taste will drop in quality.

    消費期限 – it’s not ok to eat past the expiration date.

    The expiration date for natto products are the former.

23. Personal recors is 1 month after it’s expired lol. Was a bit crunchy but easily fixed with some soy sauce

24. I don’t know if it’s true but a few people told me if you stir it and pick some up with chopsticks and it’s not so sticky or slimy anymore, then it’s best to toss it. Might be just how they grew up though idk