A woman has shocked people on TikTok after discovering her parents hoard old spices – including a box of bay leaves that expired in the late seventies and a jar of yeast from the noughties.
Kassie Jamison, a part-time online reseller and vintage toy collector from Colorado, was rummaging through her parents’ cupboards one day when she came across the expired ingredients.
The 42-year-old is constantly finding expired items in their home, which her mum, Carlotta, 66 and dad, Don, 59, find very amusing.
“The first thing I looked at was a jar of yeast from 2007,” Kassie told Jam Press.
“I then spotted a cardboard box of bay leaves and it looked so old.
“I looked on the bottom and its sell-by date was 25 June 1978.
“My first reaction was to make a video and send it to my sister in Texas.
“We always joke about our parents having expired food in their house.
“My mom will jokingly defend her frugality, whereas my dad just rolls his eyes.”
Kassie decided to share her latest findings on TikTok, where the clip has since gone viral with over 79,700 views and nearly 8,000 likes.
“So I’m here in my parents’ house,” she says as she walks toward the glass-fronted cupboards.
As Kassie opens the doors, the designs on the revealed containers look like they’ve come straight out of a time machine.
After checking the date on a jar of yeast, she then checks a box of bay leaves, while saying: “I know that people have stuff that’s kind of old, but I think my mum may win this fight.”
Kassie then takes a look at the date on the bay leaves and reveals the ingredient is 44 years out of date, commenting that the box is older than she is.
“Let’s just add some dust to our soup,” one viewer commented, followed by a laughing face emoji.
Another person added: “I could literally sell that bay leaf box at the antique mall.”
“Does she not season food,” wrote someone else.
Others shared their own findings, with one person saying: “My dad has canned ham in the fridge from the late 80s.”
Another person added: “My mum gave me some nasal spray that went out of date in 1994! It was dead before I was even alive!”
Someone else wrote: “Found a packet of gravy mix in my grandparents’ cupboard that expired before I was born, which meant that it had moved houses with them at least twice.”
Another user offered an explanation for why people don’t throw away old spices, saying: “If you grew up poor and had to pinch for food you would understand this. A lot of people do this in that time era. They don’t want to waste.”
Kassie added a disclaimer to her video, saying: “I realized that she [her mum] has packed and moved that [box] to and from every house she has lived in since 1978. That’s commitment.”
Also in the parents’ cupboards were old parsley flakes and ‘Durkee’ ground allspice, which can be sold for $11 (£8.23) on eBay.
She added: “Several people told me to sneak out the expired spices and sell them on eBay.
“I am tempted to take them up on the idea.
“It seems like lots of people have parents who do the same thing.
“I thought it was hilarious that some people commented that the box of bay leaves is older than their parents.
“Clearly they use them very sparingly, considering it’s 44 years old.”
