Thankfully My Husband doesn't look at expiration dates. I grew up like your Husband, went to bed hungry for long periods of time. We have decided we will not waste any food and eat it up. I keep track of expiration dates and don't worry about using somethings after the date. Growing up we never had expiration dates, sell by dates or anything else and all was well.
There are only two of us now.

I watch the expiration dates, but don't always pay attention to them. Most of what we eat these days is fresh food and that is easy to see when it goes bad.

Love this!
Sandy

I taught my kids this rule.....when in doubt, throw it out.

Your husband may be correct about the cake mix. http://www.eatbydate.com/other/bakin...piration-date/ The expiration date on cake mix is based on the expiration date of the leavening agents( baking powder or baking soda). I rarely throw things out because I try to use it up before the expiration date. If it does go past, I do eat it if it smells and looks ok.

The date on the milk carton is not an expiration date. It is also a sell by date. I keep milk is the back corner on the top shelf of my refrigerator. It stays good for up to several weeks past the date on the carton. Those dates are sell dates. The same goes for medications. The medication does not go bad, it just may be less effective.

I used to work in a 7-11 and we were told we couldn't sell after such and such date but that didn't mean it wasn't still good so we were allowed to take some of it home............they changed that rule later though. We then had to throw all outdated food in the dumpster which I thought was such a waste but then the tramps could rummage thru during the night for food so not a total loss. When I buy produce such as fresh veggies and I know I won't be able to use them up fast enough, I chop them up and put in the freezer for soups later on. Then all my work is done ahead of time when it comes time to make up my soups. I eat lots of soups during the winter months making a huge pot, splitting it in half and putting half in the freezer for another time. I chop/freeze carrots, peppers, mushrooms, celery, onions and even milk if I can't drink it fast enough before it spoils. I use the milk for my Impossible pies. I measure it out for the recipe so I just have to throw it into the blender once its thawed out. I hate to throw food out if I can help it. Right now I'm having an abundant crop of strawberries this year so I'm using them for my version of "Orange Julius" drinks, over ice cream at night, freezer and giving them away to my neighbors. My zucchini and butternut squash gets the same treatment, give away or prepared for future use and put into the freezer.

We eat everything and are not sticklers to expiration dates but then we do not eat many packaged foods. The only thing we toss is vegetables gone bad and occasionally cold cuts or meat that got lost in the frig and looks scary.

We usually ignore those dates on the packaging and go by sight, smell, and taste.