[TomGuy]

Made some corn muffins from a mix. Didn’t rise much and tasted like cardboard. Looking at box - “best if used before Jan 2007.”

That is the baking powder that loses its rising capability after awhile. Similar 'flat' results can occur with dry items that contain yeast.

One solution is to add a teaspoon of fresh baking powder to the mix when you are fixing it.

[NewHampshireDuo]

Well, we threw it out. (Our FIFO only failed on that box.)

A few years ago we were at my mother’s house and we needed some sugar. She pulled a 1 lb box of sugar out of the cabinet - dated sometime in the mid ‘50s. With some effort we peeled away a portion of the box and chipped off a piece. Then we bought her some fresh sugar.