Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for April 20, 2023

Calvin has no problem with being a motherless child.

Instead, Calvin hopes the expiration date comes so he can use spoiled milk for anything else.

how would Calvin misinterpret the “sell by” tag?

My biggest issue with the expiration date is that there seems to be no standard for where and how or even if they print it on the product. You have to go hunting for it — is it on the bottom? Printed illegibly super-small around the top? Printed illegibly black on a black container? Partially worn off? Not even there at all? If it’s been in the cupboard or fridge for a while and I can’t find the date on it, it gets tossed.

Calvin is really going to freak when he sees what’s printed on his first driver’s license.

I hate when someone asks you to do this! If you think it’s gone bad, toss it!

Spouse and I have both been through Covid now. And one thing we’re less good at as a result is smelling “early sour” in the milk. I now pour a bit out to watch for lumps. Spouse now hands it to me and says “Is this milk still good?”.

When I was a kid, when milk turned sour, it didn’t mean it was spoiled, it just meant it turned into buttermilk. Enjoyed it many times. That stopped when dairies started homogenizing milk!!

Don’t worry, Calvin.

If the milk doesn’t kill you, the Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs will!!

Nothing like pouring a bowl of chunky granola…but the milk is chunkier.

I’m finding as I get older, I don’t crave or drink as much milk as I did when younger. I guess lactose intolerance kicks in at a certain age?

…but you took your chances with your mom ensuring you that it’s okay to use the milk?

You would think one spoiled thing could recognize another spoiled thing, like birds.

If the milk is sour then so am I….

No, Calvin, that’s not…never mind.

According to the ultra pasteurized half n half in my fridge, I have until August.

After opened whole milk lasts longer then 2% milk

It’s not an expiration date, it’s a “Best Before” date, all it means is the company has decided that up until that date their product is at it’s optimum freshness, and the best before date is the worst thing that ever happened to food, so much unnecessary waste now.

Another reason newspapers are not selling…

When in doubt, THROW OUT,

I keep some emergency soy milk around but now that I think about it, I don’t know what soy milk smells like when it goes bad.

He should try drinking milk straight from the cow one time!!!

Milk is such a great product. It doesn’t really need a printed expiration date. As even Calvin knows, it’ll let you know by it’s smell when it has reached it’s expiration date. And even if it is sour, and you happen to drink it, it doesn’t hurt you. Sour milk can be used in a myriad of things. Too bad milk is under attack these days.

One time I was eating some peanut butter and banana bread at my Grandma’s, and when she gave me the milk she just bought, it was already spoiled. My Grandpa tried the milk, and he already knew it was spoiled. We dumped the milk in the sink right away, and my Grandma got a refund.

Milk never goes bad, it just turns into a different food.

“I told her I knew when I was going to die because my birth certificate had an expiration date on it.” — Steven Wright

My grave stone has the born on date, just waiting to chisle in the expiration date.

The second panel reminds me of the old commercial for life cereal “Let’s get Mikey”. I don’t know if anyone remembers that commercial.

Manufacturers learned a long time ago that the shorter the Exp. Date, the sooner and more product unwitting consumers will throw away the product and buy MORE !

Any kid who won’t smell his own milk is going to eat his cereal dry in my house. :)

I found a good place for information on expiration dates on food is survivalist lists. I notice them on you tube. They list what foods are safe to stock up on and which expire quickly. For example, I learned that brown rice doesn’t keep long compared to white rice which is safe to store long term. Of course, I follow the health food advice to eat brown rice because it is so much more nutritious than white but that’s why it spoils much more quickly.

Calvin should check his birth certificate.

me either calivn, me either

I guess the swamp mud he loves to play in has no odor!

Instead of an expiration date, I’d favor a “use if you dare” date.

Later folks. I got a date with my sexpiration.

Calvin’s Best-Before date precedes his birth.

I think it is when the product goes bad Calvin. Not the day you expire.

When I was younger I use to drink milk a lot and one day in the summer I had a full glass of milk with my pb&j sandwich for lunch then went back out to play with neighborhood kids and I got to hot and ended up with an upset stomach from the milk so since then I won’t use milk that smells sour because of that experience. I know that expired milk is different than drink mil and playing in the heat and getttin upset stomach from it but it is just that I didn’t like how I felt and I think drinking sour milk would make me feel the same plus with vomiting. Yucky!!!!!!!

George Carlin: Icebox man

Putting expiration or best before dates on products goes against peoples freedom to decide for themselves – sarcasm.

I’m sensitive to milk that as soon as I ask that question I might as well just dump it. Even if I look at the date and it’s still several days out and it smells good, as soon as I ask that question it’s basically gone bad as far as my body’s concerned.