Posted on 08/23/2022 6:58:18 AM PDT by daniel1212
Avoiding unseen food hazards is the reason people often check the dates on food packaging. And printed with the month and year is often one of a dizzying array of phrases: “best by,” “use by,” “best if used before,” “best if used by,” “guaranteed fresh until,” “freeze by” and even a “born on” label applied to some beer.
People think of them as expiration dates, or the date at which a food should go in the trash. But the dates have little to do with when food expires, or becomes less safe to eat. I am a microbiologist and public health researcher, and I have used molecular epidemiology to study the spread of bacteria in food.
The United States Department of Agriculture reports that in 2020 the average American household spent 12% of its income on food. But a lot of food is simply thrown away, despite being perfectly safe to eat. The USDA Economic Research Center reports that nearly 31% of all available food is never consumed. Historically high food prices make the problem of waste seem all the more alarming.
The current food labeling system may be to blame for much of the waste. The FDA reports consumer confusion around product dating labels is likely responsible for around 20% of the food wasted in the home, costing an estimated US$161 billion per year.
The dates on those food packages, however, are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. Rather, they come from food producers. And they may not be based on food safety science.
For example, a food producer may survey consumers in a focus group to pick a “use by” date that is six months after the product was produced because 60% of the focus group no longer liked the taste. Smaller manufacturers of a similar food might play copycat and put the same date on their product....
in the absence of a uniform food dating system, consumers could rely on their eyes and noses, deciding to discard the fuzzy bread, green cheese or off-smelling bag of salad. People also might pay close attention to the dates for more perishable foods, like cold cuts, in which microbes grow easilyt in the absence of a uniform food dating system, consumers could rely on their eyes and noses, deciding to discard the fuzzy bread, green cheese or off-smelling bag of salad. People also might pay close attention to the dates for more perishable foods, like cold cuts, in which microbes grow easily
In general, food “expiration dates” are a good reference point for how long you have had something. If you’re cleaning the cupboards/refrigerator and you find something a year or two beyond the expiration date it’s good to get rid of it, not because it’s bad, but that you bought something and didn’t use it, nor are you likely to.
I have found things five and six years past the expiration date in the cupboard and it was time for it to go.
My last purchase of Rubbing Alcohol had an expiration date of 2 years after my purchase date.
How come Scotch doesn’t have a ‘use by’ date?
Or more specifically, the food producers' lawyers.
If the sour cream is moldy or curdled looking.
Sour cream can last several weeks past its expiration date if opened, even longer if unopened. A good and cold fridge is also essential. We set ours low enough to just start to freeze the milk, and then very gradually bump it up until it stops freezing it. It keeps it at about 34° F at that rate and leftovers last about forever.
Expiration dates are more likely valid for perishable items, not canned or dry.
The one food item I would be careful with is acidic foods, like pineapple in tin cans. The acids can eat away at the coating on the inside of the can, a process called detinning, and ruin the food.
I home can all my acidic foods so don’t have to worry about that.
Another item to be careful with is the pull top cans. Those don’t keep as well as the kind you need a can opener for.
Prepper ping
Good question. I usually throw out the half filled container when the mold is over 1/4”
Perhaps expiration dates aren't based on science, I don't know.
That said, I believe this new war on food expiration dates is being pushed by the globalist greens.
Beware.
Mmmmmm... Ham and motherf***ers. Mmmmm....
It grows mold or gets an unappealing texture, in my experience.
I saw an expiration date on a bag of salt tablets recently. Really? Salt?
Yup. That's what's going on here.
a great read!
sniff test for meats, sight and touch for veggies, everything else is fair game.
There is a very big incentive and conflict of interest for manufacturers putting a short expiration date on their products.
Be sure to stay six feet back from the shelves as you read the expiration dates.
We used to consume it way before the expiration date. If there was a tad left we would decide who got to take the last swig,
If the cheese is moldy cut off the mold and proceed ahead
“THAT stuff wasn’t edible when it was edible, so to speak!”
Meals Rejected by Ethiopians.
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