What Happens if you Eat Expired Whole Wheat Pasta?

Spaghetti Noodles are definitely a pantry staple at our house, and we use them fairly regularly. We typically get the whole wheat version through our state’s WIC program.

Sometimes items in our pantry get pushed back or behind other products, and we don’t find them until they are past the expiration date. Today we are going to deep dive into what to expect if you eat expired whole wheat spaghetti noodles.

Does whole wheat spaghetti go bad?

Any pasta can go bad whether it is due to time or due to conditions. Over time the pasta will start to breakdown and can potentially go rancid. Rancid means the fat inside of a food has been exposed to heat, light, or oxygen over time.

When something goes rancid that taste is affected, it has a bad smell, and can change the color. You are much more likely to get food poisoning when you eat something that has gone rancid.

How to tell if whole wheat spaghetti noodles are bad?

Due to poor pantry inventory management, we have come across a lot of dry goods that have gone passed the expiration or “best by” date. We have updated our system and have made sure the oldest items are used first.

We came across some whole wheat spaghetti that was marked as “best if used by” January 2022. That is about 12 months ago.

We are going to use our 5 senses and common sense to see if the whole wheat spaghetti noodles are safe to eat.

Sight– I first inspected the outside packaging to see if there was any damaged spots or signs of water exposure. When a packaging gets wet, it usually feels weaker and has a discoloration for where the moisture dried.

Since the outside packaging is just cardboard and there is no inner packaging, if there any signs of water on the cardboard, you should throw the pasta out.

Once pasta gets wet or absorbs moisture, it will start to soften and can also start to grow mold and bacteria. Our box showed no signs of moisture or damage so we will continue on.

Sound– Pasta doesn’t really have a sound associated with it, so there was nothing to hear to determine if the pasta was safe to eat.

Touch– At this point, I have opened the cardboard package and pulled some pasta out. I am trying to determine if the texture is normal. The pasta should be firm and not feel sticky. If any of the pasta is stuck together, this is a sign of the pasta absorbing moisture and should be thrown away. The pasta was still firm and took a little force to break. It did not crumble when pressure was applied.

Smell– Most pasta doesn’t really have a smell and is similar to sniffing flour. In this case, no smell is a sign that the pasta is ok. If you did smell anything especially a burnt oil smell, this would indicate that the pasta was rancid.

Taste– The only way to truly taste pasta is to cook it. So, I went ahead and boiled water to make my pasta. Whole Wheat Pasta usually takes a few more minutes to boil than regular white pasta. Once cooked, I drained the pasta and tasted a noodle before adding my sauce. The noodle has a soft texture and a regular pasta taste.

I ended up making a basic cheese sauce (think mac & cheese) and mixed in canned diced tomatoes and leftover grilled bratwurst sausage. This quick easy dinner was a huge hit with my kids.

Is whole wheat pasta good past expiration date?

Whole wheat pasta is completely fine to eat past the expiration date as long as it is stored properly. Ideally, you would want to store pasta in its original container in a cool dry spot like a cabinet or pantry.

If the spaghetti pasta is exposed to heat, light, or oxygen for a long period of time, then the odds of it going bad and not being able to use it go up.

Since the pasta we ate was easily 1 year past the expiration date, I would suggest that well-kept pasta can easily last for 1-3 years past the “best if used by” date.

One of the ways we are saving money on our grocery budget is by lowering our food waste. Instead of using the whole 1 pound box of pasta for dinner which is about 8 adult servings, we used about half of the box.

This allowed us to have a dinner for 2 adults, 2 young children, and at least 1 serving for lunch tomorrow. In order to keep my pasta from being exposed to air once it is opened, I used a large Ziploc style bag.

I like to keep any opened pasta packages in an airtight container and put them in my cabinet. The next time I make pasta for dinner, I will use up any opened pasta first instead of opening another container!

For more information on common expired foods, check out “What Happens if you Eat Expired Sour Patch Kids Candy?” and “What happens if you drink expired Dr Pepper?“