Should you be worried if your food is expired?

Countries around the world waste enormous amounts of food each year, and the United States is one of the worst offenders. How much of the food in your fridge will you toss before it reaches the table? Hamburger buns from last summer's picnic? Milk past its best-by date? Carrots that lost their crunch? Individual households account for 37% of the food wasted in the US. And about 20% of those foods are thrown away by consumers who don't understand the meaning of the dates on the labels. However, the majority of those groceries are still completely safe to eat. The path from the point of production to the point of consumption was much more direct before the 20th century, and most people knew how to assess freshness using sight, smell, and touch. So if the dates on our food don't tell us that something's gone bad, what do they tell us?

However, it became more difficult to determine product ages as supermarkets started carrying processed foods. Grocers in the US used packaging codes to keep track of how long food had been on the shelves, and in the 1970s, customers started demanding access to that data. Open dating, which is still used by many supermarkets, involves the labeling of products with dates indicating their peak freshness. This nebulous metric had nothing to do with the use-by or food safety of products. In fact, the choice of dates is frequently made without any scientific justification, and there are frequently no established standards. In order to guarantee that customers will taste their food at its best and return for more, the majority of manufacturers and retailers are motivated to set these dates early. Thus, many foods can be consumed well after the dates indicated on the packaging.

While shelf-stable foods like pasta, cookies, and other foods may taste stale, they are not unhealthy. As long as they don't exhibit bulging or rusting, canned foods can remain safe for many years. Low freezer temperatures control food-poisoning-causing bacteria, preserving properly stored frozen meals indefinitely. The maximum shelf life of eggs in the refrigerator is five weeks, and you will be able to smell when they are starting to go bad. Additionally, mold, slimy surfaces, and off-smelling produce are always indicators of spoiled food. Of course, there are situations in which it is better to be safe than sorry. Meat should be consumed or frozen within days of purchase, according to the USDA. Ready-to-eat salads, deli meats, and unpasteurized cheeses are more likely to contain pathogenic bacteria that can elude a smell or taste test after their printed dates. Furthermore, the dates on baby formula are regulated to show safety.

The majority of these labels don't function as intended, though some do. In a 2019 survey of more than 1,000 Americans, more than 70% said they use date labels to determine whether food is still edible, and nearly 60% said they'd toss any food past those dates. The same thing frequently occurs in grocery stores and restaurants. Many experts call for laws requiring that date labels use one of two standardized phrases: "Best if used by" to indicate freshness or "Use by" to indicate safety, in order to prevent all this waste. This solution isn't ideal, but according to some US researchers, enacting these regulations at the federal level could stop about 398,000 tons of food from going to waste each year. As several UK supermarket chains have done to encourage customers to use their own judgment, retailers could also try removing the dates from produce labels. Numerous experts also support legislation that would provide incentives for restaurants and grocery stores to donate leftover food. Currently, despite the fact that the federal government actually protects such donations, confusion about dates has led at least 20 US states to restrict giving away food after its expiration date.

Countries like France go even further by mandating that many supermarkets donate their unsold food. No matter what your government decides, the best way to prevent food waste is to eat what you purchase. Also, keep in mind that most of the time, all you need to determine whether food is fit for consumption or the compost bin are your eyes, nose, and tongue.