Is it just me, or is Europe always on the forefront of food quality and standards? I ran across an article the other day that covered the European Union’s latest attempt to reduce food waste by loosening up the standards on certain “best by” dates on foods. The EU is pushing to allow more foods {that store indefinitely, just with lower quality, not safety} to become exempt from “best by” dates. They predict that it could lower food waste as much as 15 million tons {holy buckets!}. The EU has already passed the ruling that vinegar, sugar, and salt will no longer carry “best by” dates, as they are preserving agents. Items like rice and coffee are up next on the list.
Here in the US, our expiration dates and best by dates are a little more fast and loose. They are not regulated, and so there is no real standard on how long non-perishables are safe to consume. I know I personally consume them long after the “best by” date, and I have never had a problem.
Critics of the “best by” dates on food say that it leads to consumer confusion, as in most consumers don’t know that it doesn’t mean that food has gone bad, it just means the quality might begin to decline {think texture, color, etc.}, and so food is wasted unnecessarily.
You know me, I am all about any steps that we can take to reduce food waste. What do you think, would you like to see the U.S. adopt the E.U.’s pending policies on food dates? What is your policy on “best by” dates when you are cleaning out your pantry?
~Mavis
Kathy says
If it’s not bulging, rusted or too badly dented, it stays and gets used. Unless it’s tuna in a can. For some reason, I am not able to consume tuna in a can past the expiration date. Go figure.
Brooke says
Last weekend, we were shopping in Kroger, and my husband found a few bags of organic coffee, that was “best by” sometime in either April or May. He asked the socker nearby if he would mark it down (aka Manager’s Special) it for us, and he said NO, they would have to throw it away! “It could make us sick”. It’s coffee!!! So they threw away about $36 worth of perfectly good, organic coffee, when we would have happily paid $1-$3 per bag. So, yes, I would like to see the US do something similar to what the EU is doing.
Jen Y says
Sadly stores in the US are terrified of being sued so a lot is wasted just to protect themselves.
Dianna says
I think the answer is education. We need to learn for ourselves the signs that food is bad: mold, smell, etc., and then we need to teach them to our kids. And since a lot of parents don’t know, why don’t we bring back home ec classes, but make them actually useful instead of how to cook ramen and frozen biscuits that they seem to have evolved into?
But yes, I do think some of those “best by” dates are ridiculous, and I think loosening up is a good idea.
Diana says
I agree that ‘best by’ dates are misleading and cause excessive waste. I LOVE managers’ specials where items are marked down merely because they are past or approaching their ‘best by’ date. A few years ago, our local paper published an ‘investigative report’ on stores that stocked foods that had passed their printed ‘best by’ dates. However, the writer didn’t bother to talk to a foods expert about whether the foods actually spoil by the printed date. It was such irresponsible journalism. I posted a critical comment to the article, and was accused by others of being a shill for the grocery stores.
Yes, get rid of the meaningless ‘best by’ dates, but instead make it a produced/packaged date that is stamped on each item. And yes to Dianna’s suggestion of bringing back informative food education to the school curriculum. It is a survival skill.
FYI, Coffee does eventually go bad. It may take years to get to that point, but it will get there. I’ve tasted coffee brewed from a can that had gone rancid. It is undrinkable. It’s not a matter of flavor; I’m not a coffee snob. Believe me, this was undrinkable.
Europe is not on the forefront on all aspects of food preparation. Apparently, dehydrators are not at all common in Europe and UK. I had a Facebook conversation with several Europe and UK friends this morning, in which I mentioned my food dehydrator. They had no idea what I was talking about. I had to explain the machine and the process, and how awesome it is to be able to dehydrate foods.
Fee- says
Here in Scandinavia (in Europe too) we dehydrate food all the time. We have forests full of mushrooms and berries, which we dehydrate for winter. Although, it’s not like everyone is doing it – those products can be bought from local food stores. Dehydrators are common around here, but not like everyone is dehydrating everything 😀
EU has some really nice stuff, but it has many negative things too. There are so many directives that makes people crazy. Like you can’t sell your organic eggs for anyone without a permit (which costs alot!), you cannot give your extra garden produce for schools etc. Those directives are killing many of our smaller farms.
Stacey says
We hear horror stories of people becoming ill or even dying because of something they ate. I think particularly of a teenage boy who died after eating pancakes made from a pancake mix that was outdated. Something about one of the ingredients in it became poisonous after the expiration date. These things scare people out of using their common sense with food that wouldn’t cause such problems. I think of my parents and how hard they worked to grow our food as well as buy dented cans at a discount store. None of us ever got sick because they used their common sense. Best buy dates are a good thing, especially if we are talking about something like yeast that could ruin a batch of bread if it’s not up to performing its best. I think the problem is that people don’t trust their own common sense.
Chad says
I say if there ain’t nuttin’ growing on it, and it don’t smell bad, it should be okay, in most cases.
Rochelle M. says
I’d like to see just honest dates rather than marketing dates. I ended up tossing some canned goods because they’d gone way past their expiration date (we’re talking more than a year here). I’d like a date that I don’t have to guess at, especially for items which look and taste no different when they go bad.
Beverley Veale says
This is a story that will give some people the horrors!
I knew that the frozen organic chicken in my deep freezer was past its use-by date but until I decided to cook it two days ago, I didn’t know that the date was Dec 2012!
I thawed it safely in the fridge and decided that if it smelled off that I’d throw it out. Smelled OK, no freezer burn so cooked it last night and I’m here to tell the tale!
Sue Morgan says
I just saw on Dr. Oz this past week, an expert nutrionist, explaining the “Best Buy”, “Sell by”, etc….dates and it was very educating. I would suggest googling that episode. It was very enlightening.
Yvonne Fiorini says
Yes, it is extremely wasteful, we need to teach the younger generation and others that were not educated, that afew people with bad experiences have ruined and cost the rest of us thousands /millions of dollars wasted food and that helps to make the price of our food go up. I just opened a can of canned chicken that was dated back in March of 2012 and there is nothing wrong with it we have eaten the whole thing and we are just fine. Yes beware of dented cans etc. I have used several other things that have been way past their date Mayo dry mixes like cake and cookie mixes, jams, bbq sauce, catsup, mustard up to a year and sometime past that and never gotten sick from it. I have used things like meat that have been frozen for 2 years and they have been just fine. Double bagging and proper wrapping is what is important to learn to make your food last longer. I have also learned, by accident, that my frig settings just set slightly cooler keep my eggs. cheese, canned bisquits, whip cream, good for up to 6 mo past their dates, and this saves so much money especially when you can take advantage of the sales. My milk has been lasting up to 2 weeks yogurt 3 weeks. past the date. Learn about the ingredients in the packages that is what you need to look at. Chicken soup 3 years past the date is useable still for stews and such it just starts to taste a little bland.after a little while, but does not make you sick in Lack of Education about this is costing everyone so much money and extra stress when is not necessary. Certain items are perishable at different levels not just vegetables and fresh meat and dairy items.