NERDBEEP

Is Your Food Expired? Don’t Be So Quick to Toss It

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 Use-by dates are contributing to millions of
pounds of wasted food each year.
A new report from the Natural Resources
Defense Council (NRDC) and Harvard Law
School’s Food Law and Policy Clinic says
Americans are prematurely throwing out food,
largely because of confusion over what
expiration dates actually mean.
Most consumers mistakenly believe that
expiration dates on food indicate how safe the
food is to consume, when these dates actually
aren’t related to the risk of food poisoning or
foodborne illness. Food dating emerged in the
1970s, prompted by consumer demand as
Americans produced less of their own food but
still demanded information about how it was
made. The dates solely indicate freshness, and
are used by manufacturers to convey when the
product is at its peak. That means the food does
not expire in the sense of becoming inedible.
For un-refrigerated foods, there may be no
difference in taste or quality, and expired foods
won’t necessarily make people sick.
But according to the new analysis, words like
“use by” and “sell by” are used so inconsistently
that they contribute to widespread
misinterpretation — and waste — by consumers.
More than 90% of Americans throw out food
prematurely, and 40% of the U.S. food supply is
tossed–unused–every year because of food
dating.
(MORE: Food Safety: CDC Report Shows Rates of
Foodborne Illnesses Remain Largely Unchanged )
Eggs, for example, can be consumed three to
five weeks after purchase, even though the “use
by” date is much earlier. A box of mac-and-
cheese stamped with a ‘use by’ date of March
2013 can still be enjoyed on March 2014, most
likely with no noticeable changes in quality.
“We are fine with there being quality or
freshness dates as long as it is clearly
communicated to consumers, and they are
educated about what that means,” says study
co- author Emily Broad Leib, the director of
Harvard Food Law & Policy Clinic. “There should
be a standard date and wording that is used.
This is about quality, not safety. You can make
your own decision about whether a food still has
an edible quality that’s acceptable to you.”
(MORE: Is It Worth Buying Organic? Maybe Not)
Because food dating was never about public
health, there is no national regulation over the
use of the dates, although the Food and Drug
Administration ( FDA) and US Department of
Agriculture (USDA) technically have regulatory
power over the misbranding of products. The
only federally required and regulated food
dating involves infant formula, since the
nutrients in formula lose their potency as time
goes on.
What regulation does exist occurs at the state
level — and all but nine states in the U.S. have
food dating rules but these vary widely. “What’s
resulted from [the FDA letting states come up
with regulation] is really a patchwork of all sorts
of different rules for different products
and regulations around them,” says study co-
author Dana Gunders, a staff scientist with the
NRDC’s food and agriculture program.
“Sometimes a product needs a date, sometimes
it doesn’t. Sometimes a product cannot be sold
after a different date. Or there is no
requirement at all. Even with
different categories there is so much variability.”
The result is a confused public — and tons of
wasted food.
(MORE: Bad Food: Illnesses from Imported
Foods Are on the Rise, CDC Says)
Correcting these entrenched misconceptions,
however, won’t be easy. The report authors say
the re-education could start with a clearer
understanding of what the dates mean.
“Use by” and “Best by”: These dates are
intended for consumer use, but are typically
the date the manufacturer deems the product
reaches peak freshness. It’s not a date to
indicate spoilage, nor does it necessarily signal
that the food is no longer safe to eat.
“Sell by”: This date is only intended to help
manufacturers and retailers, not consumers.
It’s a stocking and marketing tool provided by
food makers to ensure proper turnover of the
products in the store so they still have a long
shelf life after consumers buy them.
Consumers, however, are misinterpreting it as
a date to guide their buying decisions. The
report authors say that “sell by” dates should
be made invisible to the consumer.
Jena Roberts, vice president for business
development at the food testing firm, National
Food Lab, studies “shelf-stable” properties of
foods to help manufacturers determine what
date indicates when their products are at their
best. “The food has to be safe, that’s a given,”
says Roberts. “[The manufacturers] want to
make sure the consumer eats and tastes a high
quality product.”
But she acknowledges that even if the food is
consumed after its ideal quality date, it’s not
harmful. A strawberry-flavored beverage may
lose its red color, the oats in a granola bar may
lose its crunch, or the chocolate clusters in a
cereal may start to ‘bloom’ and turn white.
While it may not look appetizing, the food is still
safe to eat. “It’s a confusing subject, the
difference between food quality and food safety.
Even in the food industry I have colleagues who
are not microbiologists who get confused,” she
says.
(MORE: How to Stop the Superbugs)
The report authors aren’t against food date
labeling. The system was created to provide
more information to consumers, but it’s
important that people know how to use that
data. “The interest is still there on the part of
the consumers, but we want this to be clearly
communicated so consumers are
not misinterpreting the data and contributing to
a bunch of waste,” says Gunders.
While the food industry could make changes to
date labels voluntarily — such as having the
dates read when food is most likely to spoil —
the study authors also call for legislation by
Congress to develop national standards that
would standardize a single set of dating
requirements.
Such standards may already be in the works;
following the release of the
report, Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-
Westchester/Rockland), the senior Democrat
on the House Appropriations Committee and
author of the Freshness Disclosure Act says she
will be reintroducing legislation to Congress that
calls for establishing a consistent food dating
system in the U.S.
“I look forward to reintroducing this legislation
this Congress and working with colleagues on
both sides of the aisle to fix this glaring gap in
our nation’s food safety laws so that American
consumers have the information they need,”
Lowey said in a statement.
Source: http://healthland.time.com/2013/09/18/
is-your-food-expired-dont-be-so-quick-to-toss-
it/#ixzz2fgsxbo2R