This man eats out-of-date food to show how long groceries actually last — from weeks-old milk to months–old cheese

• A TikToker eats out-of-date food to show people how to reduce waste.
• He said milk 41 days past its use-by date was "absolutely fine," but in-date spinach made him sick.

On May 9, Gavin Wren went to his kitchen and pulled out a Tupperware box filled with cheese. He'd bought and opened this block in November 2022. The best-before date was January 10.

"It's looking good," he said, before cutting off a slice and taking a bite. "Good cheese. It tastes different every week," he said.

This moment, which he filmed and posted on TikTok, is one of Wren's many food waste challenges, which involve eating food well past its "use-by" date.

"I wanted to find a way to help people to reduce food waste," Wren, a food policy expert, told Insider, explaining that it is a "massive issue" that could be curbed if people stopped throwing out food that's still good to eat.

While he said that you shouldn't copy exactly as he does — as he is constantly taking professional advice around the risks to his health — he explained that in watching his videos you may gain a better understanding of how to reduce your own food waste of certain foods.

Since first creating his TikToks in 2020, he has ingested some eyebrow-raising stuff, without getting sick. That includes milk 41 days out of date (which hadn't spoiled), and yogurt 43 days out of date (which had started growing mold on the lid, but the yogurt itself tasted fine).

The only thing that got him was some spinach — ironically, in-date — which he believes caused a nasty bout of food poisoning.

"It was a bit soggy but I thought I'd be fine," he said. He stirred it through his pasta, not letting it heat up too much, and said it tasted as it should. Soon after, Wren got sick.

Wren's experience shows how certain foods are riskier than others, and websites such as FoodSafety.gov have useful resources that help with striking the balance between avoiding food waste and risking your health.

Foods such as raw and undercooked meat; fruits and vegetables; raw milk and products made with it; eggs; raw or undercooked seafood; sprouts including alfalfa; and raw flour are some of the most common sources of food poisoning, according to the CDC.

Leafy greens such as spinach, for example, are a common cause because they can carry harmful germs such as E. coli, norovirus, and Salmonella. Wren thinks E.coli on the spinach is what made him sick.

But it's safe to be more flexible with other foods.

Unlike the UK where Wren lives where it's not safe to eat a food after the use-by date has passed, in the US it tends to be the last date recommended to consume a product, as opposed to when it poses a posing a safety risk.

Most cupboard foodsare safe to eat for a while after they've passed their use-by date, with cans of fish, soup, or vegetables lasting for two to five years — assuming they're not dented — and pasta and rice lasting for two. Thanks to their low levels of moisture, other commercially dried foods like gravy mixes are also safe for a "very long time," the USDA says.

If food is eaten after these time frames, you run the risk of getting sick as bacteria will start to grow.

Frozen foods, meanwhile, won't go bad as it's too cold for bacteria in the freezer, however the taste or texture might change, depending on the item and how long it's been kept in the freezer.