If its something like milk the expiration date is subject. From personal experience milk can go bad way before the expiration date. It is best to do the smell test. If it smells off its already spoiled.

But the answer to your question for most everything else is no. Everything starts to digest moments after you ingest it. There's no timer.

I mean you might get sick BECAUSE you drank a gallon of milk, but no. Your body will have it digested by the time it "expires". And any acids in your stomach wouldn't allow the milk to spoil in that timeframe.

The expiry isn't going to be your problem.

Firstly, expiry dates have a little wiggle room in them. That's when the thing is becoming a risk, not when it's instantly dangerous.

Secondly... Go Google "Jackass gallon milk". It doesn't end well .

No, for several reasons:

1. The "expiration date" is not some hard-and-fast switch that gets thrown where what once was perfectly safe will now make you ill. Spoilage just doesn't work like that. For liability reasons the manufacturer almost certainly sets the date very conservatively, and if anything the date reflects the quality of the food rather than its safety (which is why the date is usually listed as "best before"). Stored properly, milk is likely to be safe to drink several days past its "expiration date," more if it is unopened. It will also start to taste and smell bad before it becomes really unsafe.

2. If you drink a gallon of milk, regardless of the expiration date, you will be sick; ask anyone who's been on the internet long enough to remember the "milk gallon challenge."

Milk does not suddenly go bad on the expiration date. It could even be fine a week or two later if stored in the fridge.

Expiration dates are very conservative estimates of when the item will go bad.

For example, the method of preserving normal fresh milk - pasteurization - is to heat it to a certain temperature for half an hour.

Pasteurization will kill all or almost all the bacteria in the milk. Even if a tiny amount survives, if the milk is kept cold, it would not be able to reproduce enough to spoil the milk by the expiry date. If they get really lucky with the pasteurization, they may even kill everything and your milk will be OK 2 weeks AFTER expiry. But the manufacturers cover their asses and give you the shortest time, just in case.

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