Grocery costs continue to rise nationwide in tandem with inflation. As the\u00a0U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) notes, food prices were more than 10 percent higher in June 2022 than in June 2021, leading to spikes in price tags on foods like bread, eggs, and meat.<\/p>\n
In response, consumers are seeking savvy solutions that are kind to their bank accounts.<\/p>\n
One of the smartest ways to stretch your grocery store dollar is to figure out how to decode those notoriously misunderstood food labels.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a way to avoid preemptively discarding unspoiled food.\u00a0A 2011 Food Marketers Institute (FMI) study found\u00a0that many Americans prefer to be safe rather than sorry in deciding whether their store-bought food is still good to eat. The study found that 91 percent of participants said they \u201cat least occasionally\u201d discarded food past its \u201csell by\u201d date, out of safety concerns; 25 percent reported that they \u201calways did so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those attitudes may help explain why an estimated 30\u201340 percent of the nation\u2019s food supply goes to waste each year, according to a\u00a0study published by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)\u00a0in 2014.<\/p>\n
To put that in context: According to the 2014 USDA study, an estimated loss 133 billion pounds and $161 billion worth of food was lost 2010.<\/p>\n
If fattening your wallet isn\u2019t enough incentive to educate yourself about what the dates on food labels mean, consider the environment. Inger Andersen, the executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, says food waste is a \u201cmajor contributor to the three planetary crises of climate change: nature and biodiversity loss, pollution, and waste,\u201d per the\u00a02021 UNEP Food Waste Index Report.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re not alone if you\u2019re uncertain about what different food labels mean. A\u00a02007 survey\u00a0of U.S. adults published in the\u00a0Journal of Food Protection<\/em>\u00a0shed light on how misunderstood these terms are by the general public.<\/p>\n A snapshot of the findings: Fewer than half the study\u2019s participants could correctly define the \u201csell by\u201d date, and one-fourth had the misconception that this date indicates the last date recommended for safe consumption.<\/p>\n Another big reason for the confusion is that there\u2019s \u201cno federal regulation and no standard definition\u201d when it comes to food labels, says Dana Gunders of Truckee, California, the executive director at\u00a0ReFED, a national nonprofit dedicated to ending food loss and waste.<\/p>\n She is among the leaders pushing for the government to adopt a uniform policy for product dates. At present, laws vary by state, which contributes to the confusion.<\/p>\n The truth is, common labels like \u201cbest by,\u201d \u201cuse by,\u201d and \u201csell by\u201d stamped on your food items aren\u2019t safety dates, says\u00a0Amy Shapiro, RD, the founder and director of Real Nutrition, a private practice in New York City.<\/p>\n Manufacturers use food product dating to advise consumers on when the food they\u2019re purchasing is of the highest quality. \u201cBest-by and use-by dates are really designed for the look of the product and the palatability of the product,\u201d says\u00a0Bill Marler, a food safety attorney in Seattle.<\/p>\n Here is a simple list of common date conventions on food labels and what they mean, according to FSIS.<\/p>\n If your food has a \u201cbest if used by\/before\u201d label, this notes when a product will be of the highest quality or flavor, per the\u00a0agency, and does not mean it\u2019s no longer safe to consume after that date (it might just not taste as good). This label is used for all food categories, including frozen, refrigerated, canned, and boxed products.<\/p>\n A use-by date is \u201cthe last date recommended for the use of the product while at peak quality,\u201d according to\u00a0FSIS. Like the above labels, it does not mean the food is no longer safe to consume after that date, except in the case of baby formula (more on that below). This label is typically reserved for foods that are highly perishable, like meat, dairy products, and ready-to-eat items.<\/p>\n A food product\u2019s sell-by date refers to how long it should be on sale in stores and is for inventory management. You can still consume food after this date.<\/p>\n So, do you need to dispose of food once these dates have come and gone? The answer is a resounding no \u2014 that is, unless the item is showing signs of spoilage. Besides funky smells, other noticeable signs of spoilage are changes in \u201ccolor, consistency, or texture,\u201d per the\u00a0U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).<\/p>\n As mentioned earlier, baby formula is an exception, and Shapiro notes it should not be purchased or used after the use-by date. It\u2019s the only food item that requires a use-by date,\u00a0enforced by the FDA.<\/p>\n \u201cUntil that declared date, the infant formula will contain no less than the amount of each nutrient declared on the product label and will otherwise be of acceptable quality,\u201d according to the federal agency.<\/p>\n As for pantry items, you don\u2019t have much to worry about. The date on the can refers to its peak quality, but it will last much longer. The\u00a0USDA\u00a0advises that\u00a0low-acid foods (like canned tuna or vegetables) will \u201ckeep their best quality\u201d for two to five years. On the other hand, high-acid foods (like canned pickles and fruit) tend to last for 12\u201318 months.<\/p>\n In some cases, canned foods may last longer. \u201cIf cans are in good condition (no dents, swelling, or rust) and have been stored in a cool, clean, dry place, they are safe indefinitely,\u201d notes the agency.<\/p>\n And finally, a smart option is to freeze your food. As long as you do so right away \u2014 when it\u2019s at its highest quality \u2014 meats, casseroles, soup, and frozen dinners will stay safe \u201calmost indefinitely,\u201d\u00a0per the FSIS, since bacteria can\u2019t grow in frozen temperatures.<\/p>\n There is one benefit to being overly cautious about heeding the information on food labels, and that\u2019s the potential to avoid bacterial infection. Why? \u201cThe longer something\u2019s around \u2014 if it has bacteria on it \u2014 the more likely it is that the bacterial growth will be such that\u2019ll make you sick,\u201d says Marler.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a certain infectious dose that\u2019ll do that and it varies from bacteria to bacteria,\u201d he continues.<\/p>\n He deems\u00a0listeria\u00a0\u2014 a foodborne bacterial illness \u2014 \u201dmuch more problematic,\u201d because unlike most bacteria, it \u201cgrows well at refrigerator temperatures.\u201d That means \u201cthe longer you keep it in your refrigerator, the more likely it is that it\u2019ll reach an infectious dose high enough to make you sick,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Marler notes that while food labels aren\u2019t designed for food safety, it\u2019s good to pay attention to them in the unlikely case of listeria contamination.<\/p>\n Even so, if the product\u2019s already contaminated, further refrigeration won\u2019t help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Grocery costs continue to rise nationwide in tandem with inflation. As the\u00a0U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) notes, food prices were more than 10 percent higher in June 2022 than in June 2021, leading to spikes in price tags on foods like bread, eggs, and meat. In response, consumers are seeking savvy solutions that are kind […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2724,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-random-stuff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/buzzfeednews.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/buzzfeednews.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/buzzfeednews.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/buzzfeednews.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/buzzfeednews.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3646"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/buzzfeednews.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3647,"href":"http:\/\/buzzfeednews.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3646\/revisions\/3647"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/buzzfeednews.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/buzzfeednews.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/buzzfeednews.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/buzzfeednews.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What Different Food Expiration Dates Mean<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Best if Used By\/Before<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Use By<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Sell By<\/strong><\/h3>\n
How to Decide When to Toss Your Food<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Should You Be Concerned With Foodborne Illness?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n