Sell by, best before, use by, etc.. so many terms to define if a food should be eaten or not, no wonder consumers are confused. Confusion leads to food waste so what can you do about it? Understand why those dates exist on products. Not only will you likely eat healthier but you’ll also avoid any unnecessary micro issues that may arise from eating spoiled food.
Let’s start with Use By–this means that the product will retain its most nutritional value if used by this date. Of course, you can probably use some times after this date if it has been stored properly but again make a judgement call because you wouldn’t want to give a baby, for example, formula that is past this use by date since the nutritional value might be compromised.
Another one that you see is Best Before–means this product is fresh and best if consumed before this date. This does not mean that the product has gone bad after this date but rather that the freshness is not there. In other words, have you ever found an old snickers or kit kat at home and because it looked ok, you ate it? Well, you can eat it but it probably won’t be as good as one that is fresh and just bought.
Similar to best before date, Guaranteed Fresh is another date that you might see on bakery items which means that the product is going to taste great until this date though can be eaten after it too but it may not taste as good.
If you buy meat, you typically see a Sell By date on it. This means that the retailer has to get rid of that product before this date. It can be consumed after this date if stored properly. Also, if you buy meat and freeze it, then the dangers of eating it after the sell by date are further minimized.
Expiration date is often seen too and that means that this is the absolute last date you should consume this product and if you do eat it, you are eating it at your own risk.
Most date formats on products today use the Julian calendar. The first two digits represent the year and the remaining the day of the year. An example would be 18182 which means the product has a date of 2018 and the 182nd day of the year or July 1, 2018.
Also, fresh foods tend not to have dates since it all depends on how you store them and how quickly you use them. A good rule of thumb, if it smells bad or has fungi growing on it, it probably has gone bad.
Did you notice that even though all these dates are present on products, not one tells you when the food is actually going to spoil by? Hence, there is so much food waste today. However, some relief may be in sight because the USDA has asked food companies to use the label Best If Used By date to help minimize food waste. Let’s see if this will be implemented and do what it is supposed to.
Disclaimer: this is an opinion post and should not be taken as an endorsement or lack of for any product by me or my employer.
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