We’ve all done it: Taken the milk out of the fridge, noticed the “sell-by” date has passed, and given it a sniff to see if it’s still good. The question is: Are you putting yourself at risk by consuming milk and other foods that have passed their “expiration” date?
The answer, health experts say, is often no — depending on how much time has passed since that date and what type of food you’re eating.
In fact, Consumer Reports estimates that for every dollar Americans spend on food, about 10 cents’ worth is unnecessarily tossed into the trash. That adds up to about $1,500 of wasted food per year for an average family of four, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The primary reason: Misconceptions about what date labels on food packages — “sell by,” “use by,” “best by,” and the like.
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When I'm not around my wife will throw out everything that is even one day past the expiration date.Since it's just she and I we don't always consume food before that date,so we will always have a disagreement on that issue.I shove expired items to the back of the fridge in hopes that she won't see them,but she usually does.
ReplyDelete"About $1,500 of wasted food per year"...
ReplyDeleteSo they are presuming the average family of four has a yearly budget of $15,000 for groceries, which is $1,250 a month, or $288.46 per week...which is about $41.09 a day.
Which comes to $10.27 per person every day, or $3.42 per meal.
Wow.
I don't even know where to start..and I am rarely left without words.
So Claudi, where are you going on this.
ReplyDeleteJust remember the nose knows. But when in doubt throw it out.
ReplyDeleteIt took what seemed like forever to train my kids not to automatically throw away food whose presence in the fridge exceeded its "best by" date.
ReplyDeleteGood night, who spends $288 a week on groceries? My husband and I average $300 monthly on groceries for just the two of us.
ReplyDeletethe date is generally last date of sale, not last date of use.
ReplyDeleteThe blue stuff in Bleu cheese is actually mold
ReplyDeleteAnd moldy bread is why the prisoners at Newgate in London didn't drop like flies!
ReplyDelete10:33 That is for a family of four (this many - 4) and probably eating healthy food including lots of fruits and vegetable rather than processed and canned foods.
ReplyDeleteI had the same question about ground beef that was in the fridge and about 3 days past the date. I have thrown many expired foods away in the years past. I looked at the package and saw no brown anywhere on it. So I took the chance and cooked it for tacos. Kept it on the heat a little longer than usual, just in case, and it was good. Didn't smell bad or anything so I used it. Still alive and this was three weeks ago.
ReplyDelete11:50, I get that it was for a family of four, I can count. Maybe I should have worded my reply differently. I divided that in half and we still don't spend nearly that much. And we eat fairly healthy.
ReplyDeleteGrowing kids eat a lot and they have friends that come over and clean out the pantry too. If husband and 2 kids are taking lunch to school and work that adds up as well.
ReplyDelete