How long does bread last past the "purchase by" date?

[heydude]

So how long should I *supposidly* be able to keep eating bread safely after the "purchase by" date? I mean, I don't want to eat bad bread, but I should be able to eat it somewhat past the "purchase by" date. (it has no actual expiration date).

[loosechickens]

If it's regular store bread with chemicals in it to retard spoilage, you might be amazed at how long it lasts......if you are talking about "good" bread with natural ingredients, and no chemicals to retard spoilage, that will mold fairly quickly. the first kind, even molds don't want!

Moldy bread, in and of itself is unlikely to hurt you (it is, after all, how penicillin was discovered), but not tasty.

Best advice is that if the bread is at its "sell by" date, I'd pop it into the freezer and then it would probably be fine for several months or more. You can toast the slices right out of the freezer, and if you don't want them toasted, just put into a baggie about an hour before you want to eat them, they defrost quickly.

[Gina]

That's also what I do - if I have lots, I'll pop loaves into the freezer. If you are in a hurry, slices defrost quickly with just a few seconds in the micorwave. If sandwiches are being eaten and the bread is going fast, I'll just keep it in the regular fridge.

'Purchase by' dates (except for meats) are only a general indicator to me. I prefer to use my own senses. For bread, it's gone 'bad' when I see it's gotten fuzzy.

[Tradd]

Until it gets moldy!

[Heidi]

Until it gets moldy!

And then I just cut off the moldy parts and still eat the rest.

[Rosemary]

I keep bread in the refrigerator to retard mold growth. But we eat homemade bread.
Have you ever noticed the strong smell of the grocery store bread aisle? It's nothing at all like fresh-baked, preservative-free bread. Those preservatives will keep mold at bay for a long time.

[larknm]

Organic bread goes moldy faster in my house.

[rosarugosa]

I am really fussy about bread and I eat quite a bit of it. I prefer Italian bread from the bakery, and won't eat it after day three - well maybe in a grilled cheese sandwich in a pinch. So our two-person household buys two loave of bread a week, and maybe a bag of rolls, and we waste at least a third of it. So lately DH has been drying it out and making breadcrumbs, which is good, but I suspect our breadcrumb production is going to outpace our consumption And there's no way I'm eating bread that was in the fridge or in the freezer. But I figure my bread-related fiscal irresponsibility translates to about three bucks a week, and I buy the mid-week loaf out of my allowance, and that's a price I'm willing to pay for the pure pleasure of good fresh bread!

[Yppej]

rosarugosa, maybe croutons to supplement breadcrumbs?

[rosarugosa]

Hi Yppey
That would be worth a try, but consumption probably still won't equal production. Now for all that we invest in bird food, we don't feed our old bread to the birds. I was under the impression that it wasn't particularly good for them nutritionally. Is that truth or fallacy?