What Happens if you Eat Expired Great Grains Cereal?

The last time I was pregnant I fell in love with Great Grains cereal. Not only was it a great combination of sweet flakes, granola, and nuts; the cereal is very filling and satisfying!

We have somehow managed to have a giant backlog of cereal in our pantry. It appears that our family goes on binges of cereal craziness and then a cereal drought where we hardly eat it at all. Since at one time we received 6 boxes a month from WIC, we have found that some of our cereal has expired before we could get to it.

Let’s deep dive into everything we need to know about expired Great Grains cereal and if it is safe to eat past the expiration date.

Does Great Grains cereal ever go bad?

Great Grains cereal is made by Post and is usually marked with an expiration date that is listed as “Best if Used By” on the top of the cereal box.

Great Grains is a little different from other cereals I have tested like Cheerios, Kix, and Frosted Mini Wheats because the cereal is made up of a mixture of different elements.

Most Great Grains cereal has a mix of nuts, a dried fruit, and flakes. These different elements all degrade or deteriorate at different times. They are all affected by elements such as temperature, moisture, and sunlight differently.

In general, you always want to store your cereal in a cool dark place like a cabinet or pantry. This will protect the unopened cereal from what normally makes a cereal go bad.

Once opened, you should always store your cereal in an airtight container or seal the bag closed with a clip. If cereal is exposed to air for long periods of time, it will go stale or absorb moisture.

How to tell if Great Grains cereal is bad?

For today’s test, I have a box of Great Grains Banana Nut Crunch that has a “best if used by” date of July 31, 2022. This date was probably 1 year after it was made by the manufacturer.

This cereal is about 7 months out of date, and based on the other expired cereals we have tried they should still be good! Let’s use our 5 senses and common sense to see if the Banana Nut Crunch is safe to eat.

Sight– My first step is to always inspect the outer cardboard packaging. I am looking for signs of damage, that could be holes or discoloration. Holes can mean that the box was possibly damaged by rodents and discoloration can be a sign that the box has previously gotten wet. This box was in perfect condition.

Sound– Once I open the cardboard box and remove the inner plastic bag, I always shake the box to hear if any cereal has gotten lose from the bag. The inner plastic bag was intact and there was no loose cereal in the box.

Touch– Next I will open the plastic bag and pour some out in a bowl. In most cases, we are looking for cereal that is sticky or clumped together, but since this cereal is supposed to have granola type clusters it is a little bit more difficult to tell.

Smell– Normally Banana Nut Crunch cereal has the most delicious smell that similar to fresh baked banana nut bread. It is a sweet aroma of banana, and it is very pleasant. I immediately noticed that this cereal does smell like banana, but it also has a slight burnt oil smell.

This is not a good sign. Typically, when you smell burnt oil or like a burnt plastic smell this means that something has gone rancid. The most likely culprit would be the nuts since they have a higher fat content.

I separated out the flakes, the nuts, and the banana granola clusters. I noticed that the flakes and the sliced almonds smelled mostly fine. It was the banana granola clusters that definitely smelled off.

Now normally, I would stop here and throw out the cereal. I would not recommend ever eating a cereal that has an off smell.

Now, my husband actually went ahead and made a bowl of this cereal last night and ate it. He said the overall taste was mostly normal, but it was slightly off and had a small aftertaste.

My husband revealed that today his stomach has been a little off. Not full-blown food poisoning but he said he definitely didn’t feel great. I am sure as the day goes on, he will feel better, but it definitely was not worth eating expired Great Grains cereal.

How long does Great Grains cereal last after expiration date?

I was very surprised by the expired Great Grains cereal. Since most of the other cereals were completely fine 1-2 years after the expiration date, I assumed that Great Grains would be the same.

This box of Great Grains Banana Nut Crunch was only 7 months past the expiration date, and it was definitely not safe to eat.

I would recommend that you closely check you Great Grains cereal well before eating it past the expiration date. Depending on how it was stored, it may only be good for 1-3 months past the “best if used by date.”

Don’t forget to check out other expired foods we have tested like Funfetti Frosting and Boil in a Bag Rice!