As The River Food Pantry works hard to recover food—that would otherwise go to waste—from around Dane County to provide a wide array of groceries for your household, you may find some items that are past their best-by dates.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, food expiration dates refer to food quality, not food safety. Federal regulations do not require that expiration dates be put on meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, cans, and boxed foods (baby formula is the only product that requires an expiration date). They are simply added as a helpful guide to consumers and retailers.

Researchers have found that “expiration” dates — which rarely correspond to food actually expiring or spoiling — are mostly well-intentioned, but haphazard and confusing. Put another way, they’re not expiration dates at all. And the broader public’s misunderstanding about them is a major contributor in every single one of these factors: wasted food, wasted revenue, wasted household income, and food insecurity.

The labels are inconsistent, too. What the label actually indicates varies from producer to producer. So you might have a “best by” label on one product, a “sell by” label on another, and a “best if used before” label on a third. Those have different meanings, but the average consumer may not immediately realize that, or even notice there’s a difference.

Furthermore, those dates might not even be consistent across brands of the same food product — peanut butter, say, or strawberry jam. That’s partly because they’re not really meant to indicate when a food is safest. Most packaged foods are perfectly fine for weeks or months past the date. Most canned and frozen goods last for years.

The UK has done a series of campaigns toward that end, with the slogan “Look, Smell, Taste, Don’t Waste,” in which it partnered with industry to help people understand when to keep their food and when to toss it.

This requires a shift in how we think. If everyone is eating food past its “freshness” date — understanding that the food is perfectly safe but may not be at its absolute peak condition — then there will be less hesitancy.

A USDA report states that Americans waste about 30% of food every year. Part of that is because we follow expiration dates too closely and end up throwing out perfectly good food. It’s such a shame. Luckily, we can do better.

Use your best judgment to determine whether or not food should be tossed. Instead of looking at the date, look at the actual food. Does the color look right? Is the odor funky? Has the texture changed? Does it taste bad? Knowing what food is supposed to look, smell, feel and taste like is a life skill we all should know. It will stop you from eating food that’s gone bad and prevent you from tossing food too early.

Sources:

• Reader’s Digest, www.rd.com/article/expiration-dates-dont-matter-much/
• Reader’s Digest, www.rd.com/list/foods-that-never-expire
• USDA, www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/food-product-dating
• Vox, www.vox.com/22559293/food-waste-expiration-label-best-before