8 Food Safety Facts That'll Make You Breathe A Sigh Of Relief

Get the Full StoryFrom drinking old milk to storing butter at room temperature to double-dipping chips.

For many of us, one of the most upsetting moments of adulthood was learning that the five-second rule doesn't exactly hold up more on that below .

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To get to the bottom of other widely believed food rules and find out what's true and what's bogus according to the agency that regulates food safety I reached out to an expert therein.

Peter Cassell is a spokesperson for the FDA, where he advises experts and media outlets on food safety policies, outbreaks, and recalls.

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Food "Rule" #1: It's unsafe to drink milk past its sell-by date, even if it's just a day or two.

The low-down: Not necessarily.

As Cassell explains, "Drinking milk a day or two after the milk’s expiration date otherwise known as the sell-by date may not be a safety issue but may be more of a taste issue." That said, drinking milk any amount of time past its expiration date "does increase the risk of developing food-borne illness from bacteria that might have grown," says Cassell.

But unless you're part of a particularly immunocompromised population elderly people, pregnant women, and young children would fall into that category , and if your milk is just a few days past its expiration date, then you're probably good to go. Just give it a whiff before you drink it.

Melissabrock1 Getty Images Via gettyimages.com

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