Can I eat expired Pirate Booty (Puff Corn)?

Pirate Booty is a flavorful snack similar to popcorn that comes in yummy cheese flavors. You can also pick up other brands of Puffed Corn made by Chester’s, Clancy’s, and even Great Value.

Both of my kids as toddlers, loved puffed corn as a snack and as they grow older, they still usually love it! Whenever we see it on sale, we tend to stock up. Just like anytime you feel like you have outsmarted your kids, eventually mine would get tired of Pirate’s Booty and it would sit untouched in the pantry for a while.

This brings up the question about whether or not you can safely eat expired Pirate Booty. Let’s find out everything we can about Pirate Booty, Golden Flake Puff Corn, Chester’s and Clancy’s puffed corn!

How long does it take Pirate Booty to expire?

Most bags of Pirate Booty and other Puffed Corn products usually have an expiration date of about 2-3 months after you purchase them. This is very similar to the “best by” dates on other snack foods like chips and pretzels.

In the case of Pirate Booty and Puffed Corn, these dates are usually used more as an inventory control. Most major manufacturers like Lays and Frito-Lay actually stock the shelves themselves.

These manufacturers and distributors want the freshest product on the shelves at the grocery store at any given time. So, it is actually rare to find snack bags with really long expiration dates.

Another reason that the bag of snacks has short expiration dates is due to the nitrogen that fills the bag. Nitrogen is pumped into the bag to act as a protectant and help the product from going stale.

Nitrogen helps keep the chips crunchy and from turning brown. Just like when you cut an apple in half and it almost immediately starts to turn brown, your puffed corn and chips will start to change color too.

The only downside is that nitrogen doesn’t last that long. That is why older bags of puff corn will start to not look as full. Think of it like a balloon that is filled with helium. The balloon will stay nice and full and bouncy over time, but eventually it will start to lose its gas and get deflated. The same thing happens with nitrogen in our snack bags.

What is the difference between popcorn and corn puffs?

Corn Puffs or Puffed Corn is very similar in taste to popcorn but is actually made with a combination of products like cornmeal, grits, rice, wheat, and other grains.

Pirate Booty is made of a combination of cornmeal and rice meal that is then extruded by a machine into their puff shape. Sometimes it is referred to as “hull less” popcorn, but that is technically not true since it is not made from popped corn kernels.

Brands like Golden Flake Puff Corn and Chester’s Puffcorn is made primarily with just enriched corn meal.

Now most makers of puff corn do heavily promote that puff corn is all the taste of popcorn but none of the downsides like hard crunchy kernels or getting stuck in your teeth, this has more to do with taste and not ingredients.

Most puff corn comes in a variety of flavors like butter, cheese flavors, and even flaming hot/ spicy.

What are the black dots on pirate booty?

Occasionally you may notice small black dots on your Pirate Booty or other brands of Puffed Corn, but these are not signs of mold.

These are actually very similar to black specks that you see in hard taco shells, tortilla chips, and even Jiffy cornbread mix. (For more information about Jiffy, check out “Can you eat expired Jiffy Cornbread Mix?“)

These little black flecks are actually part of the corn that is used to make the product. It is naturally occurring dark pieces of the corn skin that sometimes gets ground up so fine, that it passes along into the cornmeal.

These black spots can vary by crop and year, so sometimes you may see more of them and other times you may not see any at all.

What happens if you eat expired puffed corn?

Let’s say you find a bag of unopened puffed corn in your pantry that is past the expiration date. First you will probably notice that the bag is not as firm and full of air like when you bought it.

After you open the bag, you may notice that the normal butter, cheese, or spicy flavor is not as strong as it usually is when you first buy a bag.

Finally, you will notice that the taste is still pleasant, but it will have a staleness to it. Eating expired puff corn is perfectly fine, it just won’t taste as good as the fresh stuff.

Because puff corn is stored in nitrogen it is unlikely to grow bacteria and mold, so the odds of getting sick from expired puff corn is very low.

If the bag you grab out of the pantry is punctured or already opened, then you may want to go ahead and toss it. Once a bag is opened, it is now able to absorb moisture and can start to degrade very quickly.

As a good rule of thumb, always use a chip clip on your puffed corn or store it in either a Ziploc bag or airtight container.

As long as the bag is still fully sealed, you can safely eat puff corn for 6-12 months after it expires. The downside is it will more than likely have a weak stale taste, and not be as crunchy.

For more information about expired foods, check out “Can I eat expired Microwave Popcorn?” and “What happens if you drink expired Canada Dry Ginger Ale?“