When in doubt, throw it out. I seriously stress that when people call me.

Just because it doesn't smell doesn't mean it isn't spoiled. Potentially hazardous things like ground meats, eggs and milk may go bad the quickest and you may not know it. Those are things that bacteria like to live on.

The expiration dates on packages are 'best used by' dates. After that, it's not unsafe, but the quality is decreasing every day. I usually recommend no more than a couple of weeks past the expiration date.

Things sit on the counter too long. If it's hot food, keep it hot. If it's cold, keep it cold.

People are under a lot of stress. They don't know what's going to happen next.

Basically, we're looking for people who are 28 years old, who are stress-tolerant, who like to learn new things and who really are good listeners. This is a very serious commitment. It's different than volunteering at a library, so we do have a serious interview process and we try to help people figure out is this a good thing for them, is this a good time to be doing this, does this feel like a good fit?