For most Baby Boomers the thought of throwing out food that still passes the sniff or taste test is very much frowned upon, with nothing reaching the bin until it is well and truly off – even if it’s well past its use-by-date. Growing up in the post-war generation meant nothing went to waste and it wasn’t uncommon to just cut off a mouldy chunk of cheese and eat the rest.

But, an Aussie woman has sparked an interesting debate online, about when is something ‘too old’ to consume, after finding out she had been unwittingly eating Vegemite from 1999. Popular beauty blogger Lauren Curtis, took to social media this week to share her experience, admitting she was at her friend’s grandmother’s house in 2012 when it occurred.

In the post on Twitter she wrote: “What’s the most out of date thing you’ve ever eaten? Mine was Vegemite from 1999.”It was at my friend’s grandma’s house. I stayed overnight and had toast for breakfast. In my head I was like ‘hmm this tastes different,’ then cos [sic] I didn’t want to be rude, I quietly turned the jar around and saw the date and said ‘oh, I think this is off’.”

While for Baby Boomers, eating jam or even having a drink of milk which is a few days past its use-by-date is nothing, eating something from 13 years prior may be a bit of a stretch – even if it doesn’t taste too bad. However, Lauren certainly isn’t alone in eating out of date products, with many others revealing they too have consumed food from a while back.

“My friend gave me a chocolate from a box of Favourites he took from his grandmother’s and after biting into the Dream we realised it was from 2002,” @katherinee30 commented on the Twitter post.

“Ketchup … 6 months old … grandma didn’t check her fridge, thought it was still good,” @DeadImmortal said. While @jadekatzzza69 added: “Cadbury hot chocolate powder from 1994 and it still tasted alright.”

Meanwhile, others claimed they would never eat anything past its use-by-date and always make sure to check the label before consuming it – something which Baby Boomers would likely never think of doing.

“I would have no clue, I’m so worried about checking dates,” @maddk12 said. “Only thing I *hesitantly* use these days that’s out of date is probably salad dressings and tomato sauce. I always check dates and won’t it if it’s out of date.”

But, what about milk? Is that an absolute no-go once it’s past it’s use-by-date or would it be okay to drink it if it’s only a few days off?

For one mum it certainly wasn’t a big deal to drink the milk, but others disagreed. The mother took to social media claiming while some people are “funny” about using milk after expiry, it’s something she does on the regular, The Daily Mail reported. Although for her it was totally acceptable, others did not agree, with a fierce debate sparked online over whether the sniff test is truly enough to keep drinking milk past the date noted on the bottle.

The topic was brought up on the Today show, with hosts Sonia Kruger and Richard Wilkins adding their two cents. While Richard agreed with the mother that is was absolutely okay to drink the milk, Sonia held the opposite view, admitting just the thought of it made her feel sick.

“I bin it, if it’s past the date I go, it’s done,” she insisted. “There is no mucking around with milk. I wouldn’t enjoy it. In my head it’s out of date. It makes me feel sick just thinking about it.”