If you’re like most people, you likely instinctively check out the date labels on the food you’re buying. If the “best before” label is a future date, you consider the food to be safe to purchase and consume. If it’s a past date or, in some instances, a future date that seems too close for comfort, you likely avoid it, looking for another package with a more agreeable date.
You use the date label information to decide when you’ll cook certain foods, how you’ll prepare them, and when you’ll throw them out. You’re worried that eating foods that are past their “best before” date will make you sick or give you a stomach bug. Virtually everyone thinks the same way, but should they?
Should you make all your grocery shopping and cooking decisions based on the information found on your food labels? Let’s find out.
A brief history of food labels
Date labels on food perhaps have a more exciting history than it first appears. If we’re to believe the legend, they were invented by none other than Al Capone, the notorious gangster from the 1920s.
As the story would have it, a member of Capone’s family got sick from drinking expired milk, so he started lobbying for expiration dates to be put on every milk container.
However, it wasn’t until the 1970s that food date labels started being used on virtually all types of foods. As consumers moved away from fresh produce and started relying more on processed foods, they became concerned about the freshness of the ingredients they were buying.
Today, we have precise date labels on everything from milk and dairy products to baby formula, meat, frozen meals, and dry pasta.
What the food label dates mean
Most consumers see food label dates as expiration dates, throwing away everything from their fridges and pantries that’s past these dates. However, the date information doesn’t always indicate when a specific product will expire.
You may find three different types of dates on your food labels:
- “Display until” date;
- “Best before” date;
- “Use by” date.
The “display until” date is solely useful for retailers, allowing them to manage and rotate their stock more efficiently. It’s nothing that you, as the consumer, should worry about.
The “best before” date, though commonly confused with the expiration date, is simply an indication of the food quality. The manufacturer or producer includes a “best before” date to inform consumers that the taste, aroma, texture, and overall appearance of the food will be at its best before and at a certain date. You can still consume the food after its “best before” date, but its quality might be slightly diminished.
Finally, the only date you should pay close attention to on your food label is the “use by” date, as it’s the only date relevant to food safety. It’s printed on perishable foods like raw meat, fish, and eggs that can develop dangerous bacteria over time.
What you should do with the information found on food date labels
The information on the food date labels can be highly helpful, indicating the quality of the product you can expect. However, you shouldn’t interpret all the dates as expiration dates. Many foods with “best before” information can be safely consumed for weeks and even months after the date. You might not even have to thermally process them.
If you aren’t sure whether any particular food past its “best before” date is safe to eat, inspect it visually and give it a sniff – if it looks and smells good, it’s likely perfectly safe to eat.
If the food’s past its “use by” date, however, it would be in your best interest to throw it out. Consuming it could be dangerous for your health and well-being.
How to prolong the shelf life of your food
If you want to enjoy your food for longer, the only way to do so is by storing it properly. You can safely store dry products such as beans, rice, biscuits, cereal, and more by vacuum-sealing them and keeping them in a dry, cool environment. That way, you can keep them safe for consumption for months after their “best before” dates.
Meat and similar foods with “use by” dates can quickly be frozen and stored away safely. As long as you freeze them at or before their “use by” date, you can keep hot dogs, sausages, luncheon meat, and bacon in the freezer for up to two months. Ground meats and ground poultry can be kept in the freezer for up to four months, while fresh veal, pork, lamb, and beef can stay in the freezer for up to a year.
Just make sure to cook these foods as soon as they’re thawed and eat them within a day or two.
Final thoughts
Food labels contain essential information about the products you’re buying, but the date information could sometimes be deceiving. Only pay attention to and respect the “use by” dates, and throw away food that’s past them. Use the “best before” information as a simple quality guide – don’t be afraid to consume foods that still look and smell good past their “best before” dates.
