Food expiration dates are a soft science at best, and the dates printed on the sides of food items suggest that we throw food away long before it actually goes bad. Before you throw away the last eggs or jar of peanut butter, know that food expiration dates only tell a small part of the story about when it’s no longer fit to eat.
If you know you’re dealing with expired food—moldy, stale, discolored or curdled—you can always use a countertop composter to keep organic waste out of the landfill. But before you decide to throw it away, brush up on some skills to recognize when food is expired and when it isn’t, so you don’t throw away perfectly good food.
Americans produce 320 pounds of food waste per person per year, and much of that is discarded food that is deemed expired and no longer fit for consumption. Some of that can be attributed to leftover food. Concerned? Much of that food waste is caused by people throwing away food that is still fit for consumption but has passed its printed expiration date.
Throwing away potentially intact food is not only a food waste problem, but also a financial waste. “I saw a statistic that said a consumer could save up to $1,300 a year if they were really more careful about expiration dates,” says Christopher Greco, CEO of Storewise, a software platform for independent grocers, with whom I spoke about food expiration dates.
Who determines the best-before date of food?
As soon as the packaging seal is broken, the best-before date and expiration date are no longer valid.
“Expiration dates are both a matter of quality and safety,” says Greco. On the one hand, producers and manufacturers want you to enjoy their products with the best possible taste and texture, and on the other hand, they want to minimize the risk of possible foodborne illnesses.
Read more: How to store and preserve fresh herbs
Some products, such as dairy Produce has a relatively short shelf life, and its expiration date is rapidly approaching by the time you bring it home from the store. Others, like canned and preserved foods, can stay on store shelves or in your pantry or refrigerator for quite a long time, perhaps even years.
The best-before date of food varies greatly
If the best-before date is several years ago, it is better to send the goods away.
There are many nuances regarding expiration dates, both in terms of quality and safety, especially for products with a shorter shelf life.
Greco walks us through different scenarios for a common household product with a near-expiration date, milk, where both storage and transportation variables can affect the condition of the product, even if the expiration date is already printed on the packaging. “The profile might be different if the milk had been dropped off by the retailer at the supermarket and had been sitting there unrefrigerated in the warehouse for 20 or 30 minutes before being put away,” he says. “If you had bought the milk in South Florida, where it’s 100 degrees, and driven 30 minutes home, that would also have an impact on the quality.”
Best before, use by, sell by and freeze date
You can usually find the expiration date of the cans on the bottom.
Expiration dates may also be printed with different wording, leading to different considerations and indicating quality issues rather than safety issues. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, the different labels mean the following:
- A Best before date indicates when a product has the best taste or quality. It is not a purchase or use-by date.
- A “Sell by” The date tells the store how long the product should be offered for sale to ensure stock levels. It is not a safety date.
- A “Best before” The date is the last recommended date for using the product while it is still at its highest quality. It is not a safety date (except when used for infant formula).
- A “Freeze-Through” The date indicates when a product should be frozen to maintain optimal quality. It is not a purchase or expiration date.
Various factors such as storage, packaging and environment influence the shelf life of food.
These phrases can be helpful guidelines for the consumer, but it is important to note that, except in the case of infant formula, no expiration dates are required by law. As mentioned above, none of these relate to a question of safety for consumption. In short, in all cases you must rely on your senses, including common sense, to determine whether food is safe for consumption.
Common sense
Some foods expire later than you think, while others expire quicker. Olive oil, for example, does not stay fresh for more than a few months after opening.
“I think many consumers have a strict rule about best-before dates. They think that if it’s the 28th or 29th and something expired on the 27th, then they have to throw it away,” says Greco, but that’s not always or even usually the case. “You should at least smell it and maybe taste it, then maybe it’s still good.”
On the other hand, it’s an important habit to get into anyway, because you might suspect something has spoiled before the expiration date has passed. Given a variety of transportation and storage scenarios, the expiration date can become meaningless and, as mentioned above, does not reflect federal regulations.
Even the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends this practice: “The quality of perishable products may deteriorate after their expiration date; however, if handled properly, such products should still be safe. Consumers must assess the quality of the product before consumption to determine if the product shows signs of spoilage.” You can handle food properly by putting it away as soon as you get home, knowing where the coldest zones are in your refrigerator, storing different types of food separately, using appropriate storage containers, and not overfilling them in the first place.
I bought this chicken on March 11th, but the expiration date was in a week.
Read more: Chicken labels are confusing. Here’s what they mean (and what they don’t)
Some products are obviously spoiled when they show signs of mold or decay, or when the smell becomes offensive. (Even if it has some mold, you probably don’t need to throw your cheese away.) Products that have a natural Preservatives Lower quality foods, such as cheese, pickled or vinegary products, or other preserved products such as jam, are much more likely to become inedible or bland to you before they become unsafe.
Personal shopping helps combat best-before dates and food waste
Expired meat and seafood are more likely to cause problems than most other foods.
Greco points out that our shopping habits also play a role in throwing away potentially unspoiled food. “Part of what contributes to food waste is the lack of frequency when shopping in the store,” he says. When buying in bulk can help you save money on some items. However, trying to plan or stock up on menus for weeks or months rather than just a few days will result in having too much food in storage that may be difficult to use up before it actually starts to go bad, regardless of the expiration date.
If you’re one of those people who still feels compelled to throw away food out of an overly cautious attitude because of expiration dates, visiting your local grocer more often can help keep your fridge from getting full and save you less money.
Ultimately, when it comes to foods that are past their best before date, use your judgement. Use your senses, including together Sense to help you decide when food is still edible or has passed its best-before date.
