by: Marilyn Bohn
Have you been taught if a can of food is bulging then it is bad and that
is all you know about the safety and quality of food on your shelf? If
your milk in your fridge has passed the expiration date do you still
drink it until it tastes bad?
Do you know if the food on your shelves is still edible? Dates on the
packages offer some clues, but these can be confusing because the United
States doesn't have a uniform system of food dating. Product dating
isn't federally required, except for infant formula and some baby food,
according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture fact sheet. Also, stores
aren't legally required to remove food once a "sell by" date has passed.
It is up to us to be informed and make our own decision.
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If there is a shelf-life date on a package, trust it. However, keep in
mind that there's a great variation with type of food, the temperature
where it was stored, the original quality of the food, the amount of
oxygen present and other factors, according to Oscar Pike, the
department chairman of nutrition, dietetics and food science at Brigham
Young University in Provo Utah, who has studied the shelf life of food.
We as consumers would like it to be more consistent, but it just isn't.
Valerie Phillips of the Deseret Morning News gives the following
information on food labeling and packaging. |
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Here are the dates you are likely to find on your package and what
they mean, according to the USDA:
• "Sell by" tells the store how long to display the product for sale.
For best quality, people should buy the product before this date
expires, but it doesn't necessarily mean the product is bad once it
reaches that date.
• "Best if used by (or before)" is recommended by the manufacturer for
best flavor or quality. This is not a safety date, according to the
USDA. If the date says March 15, 2008 and today is March 16, that
doesn't automatically mean you have to toss it. The products, in
general, are still safe to eat, but some consumers may detect changes in
product flavor, color, taste or texture.
• "Use by" is the last date recommended to use the product, such as "Do
not use after March 15, 2008." The date has been determined by the
manufacturer.
• "Closed" or coded dates are packing numbers or dates, so that
manufactures know when and where the product was produced. This is
helpful in the event of a recall. The product may be stamped with a date
preceded by the letters "MFG." This tells you the date it was packed.
You may have bought the product a month ago, but this date could tell
you that it has been sitting in a warehouse or on a store shelf for
several months.
The manufacturer's dates on packages and canned goods are conservative
and based more on quality than safety, said Dr. Frost Steele, a BYU food
science professor. "The quality deteriorates much sooner than safety
will." Toss out any cans or jars that are bulging, heavily dented,
cracked, have broken seals, loose lids or "any compromise with the
packaging," Steele said. It is best to rotate food on a first-in, first
out basis.
About The Author
Marilyn is a creative organizer who has been organizing for over 20
years. She is a member of the National Association of Professional
Organizers.She holds a bachelors degree in Social Work. She has reared
five daughters and currently lives in Utah.
Go to her website
http://www.marilynbohn.com where you can find free organizing
tips and interesting blogs and helpful articles on organizing.
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