food

Expiration Dates Are Just Recommendations: Why You Can Eat More Expired Food to Curb Food Waste

Checking expiration dates has become a routine part of grocery shopping. The only time it makes sense to buy a product that’s soon to expire is when the price is reduced. 

Here’s a secret food manufacturers don’t want you to know: expiration dates don’t mean foods are no longer safe to eat.

Expiration Dates On Perishable Goods

‘Best if used before’, ‘use by’, ‘packaged on’, ‘sell by’, and ‘freeze by’ are some of the dated labels we check before purchasing the food we eat.

Legend has it that it was Al Capone who lobbied to make expiration dates mandatory to curb health problems caused by bad food.

These labels are an important factor in our purchase and consumption of perishable goods.

What Expiration Dates Really Mean

However, expiration dates and the many terms they come in don’t mean what most consumers think they mean — and it’s worsening the food waste problem.

In reality, expiration dates don’t indicate when food spoils and don’t have much to do with safety. Instead, these labels are concerned with maintaining the freshness of the food.

But, when we throw something that’s perfectly safe for consumption, we unnecessarily and unknowingly contribute to food waste.

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