Has anyone found their Dad and Mom eating very outdated food and complaining of sickness on a regular basis?

Two things to consider:

1. Depression Era attitude - don't let anything go to waste because you may not be able to afford it again.

2. There may be a medical reason causing a loss of taste and sense of smell.

My Mom is the opposite, the expiration date has to way out into the future, otherwise Mom frowns.... back when I use to physically go grocery shopping for her, I was the shopper digging all the way into the back of shelf to get the longest expiration date. No wonder I was exhausted, and the next day my back would be singing the blues, those bottom shelves can be a real pain :P

Check the lower shelves of the fridge, near the back. Stuff gets forgotten there. If mom found something a bit off, she would freeze it. Very Scary.

Sorry to answer this yes shes been sick a few times but im here now and i throw out anything i find thats off bin it and say nothing i even hide it in the bin cover it with something as she seems to go through the bin?
BIN is garbage here!!

Yes mum started this a few years ago and i put it down to her not wanting to waste food BUT this was different its ok to eat something a few days off but when i found her eating rotten butter OR veg i knew something wasnt right and sure enough this was a sign of dementia!
I remember my mum chasing me in the garden as i was about to throw out a pretty smelly chicken IT WAS GREEN and stank? she chased me all over the garden until my brother arrived caught it then binned it? i feel bad now but we didnt know and we kept telling her she was "NUTS" guess she really was and this was the start and that was almost ten years ago so this dosnt come overnight!

thanks guys!

Yes. My mom did that a lot. I now realize that was probably the cause of so many "stomach viruses" when I was a kid. But, she got worse as an elder.

Dogabone, she's not talking canned goods, she's talking food that has been prepared in the home. And yes, Sally, this is often the first tipoff that an elder has dementia. Please talk to the elder's doctor about this and see if they can be evaluated in-home for how much help they need.

Elderly people do this all the time and been doing this for yrs.It's not spoiled unless grandma says it is.Take canned foods for example.Back in the 50's,70's era everyone canned from their garden.Shelf life was 5 yrs or more back then.If it's not moldy it's good to eat is the rule of thumb for say.I grownup during the 70's era.Mom always said,if the seal isn't popped and no mold it's good to eat lol.
I never heard of anyone getting sick from out dated food unless it was very old or moldy.