Old & Moldy Tootie Fruities

 

This morning I grabbed a bowl of cereal before heading to work. As I downed the spoon-sized Frosted Shredded Wheat, I noticed a very interesting fact on the bottom of Tyler's must-have cereal, Tootie Fruities. We wouldn't buy them if not for the fact that Tyler insists he would die of malnutrition if he didn't get his Tootie Fruities each morning for breakfast. I've seen him miss three days of school just because we were out of stock.

Since I hadn't gotten the newspaper yet on this particular morning, I decided to see if there was anything interesting on the bottom of Tyler's cereal bag. I was shocked as I read the date code on the bottom. It said "Best if used by Jan 1612."

I am not lying.

In an attempt to capture the name Tootie Fruitie on the side of the bag and the expiration date on the bottom, I must admit I have failed at both. However, I certify this package was marked exactly as described.

I had no idea that Tootie Fruities were around in colonial times. Never had a clue that food was produced that far back in history with government-mandated date codes stamped on the package. I always thought plastic bags were developed in the post Civil War era. And since we just bought those Tootie Fruities last week at Costco, I found it hard to believe that a modern box store like Costco would still warehouse cereal that was manufactured just a year or two after Columbus discovered the Columbia River.

The things I don't know! The older I get, the more I realize I really am an idiot.

Anyway, the point of this post is to encourage you all to look at the expiration date on your food before you begin snarfing. Which reminds me of a portion of a Christmas card I posted a few years ago. Admittedly, my Christmas cards are a little off the wall but mildly if not wildly popular. Here it is:

True story —Due to all the hype about Taylor Swift lately, I thought we’d share an intimate experience we had with her at an In and Out Burger joint in Studio City while we were on our son Will’s Jeopardy! experience a couple of years ago. We arrived there to eat and there she was! We were too chicken to ask for an autograph but I’ve reconstructed what could have been…(while the rest of the family were ordering) Notice she hogged all the ketchup.

otice

Whoops, wrong food story from the wrong Christmas letter. Here is the right one...

Anyway, my food tip for the day: Check out what you're going to be chewing on before you blindly insert nutrition in your pie hole. Expiration dates, mouse doo-doo, whatever your snack is...it may pay in the long run to be a little picky and a bit more discriminating than Tyler and I sometimes are.