The ‘sell-by’ dates on your groceries are useless. Here’s why.

[swag]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/28/heres-why-the-sell-by-dates-on-your-groceries-are-so-worthless/

By Brad Plumer, Published: September 28 at 10:30 am

Pick up a gallon of milk or a carton of eggs and it will probably have a "sell-by" or "best-by" label. But what does that date actually mean? It's unclear! The date can signify different things in different states. And many items stay fresh long after the expiration date passes.

In fact, the whole labeling system is a total mess, argues a new report (pdf) from the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic. Date labels are often so inscrutable and differ so widely from state to state that they're essentially worthless as information. (The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a whole page straining to make sense of the whole muddle.)

And, the report argues, those labels may be leading Americans to throw out tons and tons of perfectly good food each year — one reason why the United States rubbishes about 40 percent of the food it produces, or $165 billion in wasted food each year.

. . . more

[RC]

1. Hog Wallow.

They are a good guideline on how soon they should be used. Also you can go through the store section and find the newest/freshest on the shelf. Know your products. Eggs can be kept way past their use by date. Milk and cottage cheese, not so much.

[Cleita]

2. I agree. They are good for finding the latest and freshest. n/t

[snagglepuss]

8. You seem to be contradicting yourself. You say "hog wallow" only to you say eggs can

be indeed be used after the BB date.

[RC]

9. I also said "Know your product".

Re-read the OP. No contradiction at all.

[Hestia]

12. Eggs either - it's always a gamble when you buy them. When eggs expire on the shelf, they are then

repackaged with a new date. One of the "news shows" went into detail about how eggs are actually very old on grocery shelves. I quit eating them because of it. Disgusting.

[RC]

13. Depends on where you get them.

Try The Hen House in and around Kansas City

http://henhouse.com/whats-in-season/buy-fresh-buy-local/

[adirondacker]

14. I picked up a carton of ultra pasteurized organic milk 1 1/2 weeks ago with a sell by date of 10/11

I used it for a week and had to throw the rest out yesterday because it soured.

Evidently, the milk expires sooner once you open it. Many sealed packaged items react the same. Once you expose the food to oxygen, all bets are off when the expiration date is.

[dipsydoodle]

3. We've got the same issues in the UK.

I've still got some roquefort cheese in the freezer which my daughter bought back from Paris in 1988.

Yes - 1988.

from September 2011 : Government bins 'sell-by' dates to reduce food waste.

The "sell-by" date on food packaging is to be removed in a bid to cut the £12bn worth of food needlessly binned every year.

Packaging should only carry "use by" or "best before" dates, according to new government guidance, while "sell by" and "display until" labels currently used by supermarkets will be removed to deter shoppers from throwing away good food.

"Use by" labels should only be used if food could be unsafe to eat after that date, while "best before" dates should show the product is no longer at its best but is still safe to consume, the advice states.

Foods likely to require a "use by" date include soft cheese, smoked fish and ready meals, while biscuits, jams, pickles, crisps and tinned foods will only need a "best before" label.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/sep/15/food-waste-sellby-dates

[GeorgeGist]

6. My Dad use to love Roquefort cheese but ...

how would one know when it went bad?

[dipsydoodle]

7. Maybe you wouldn't

but I nibble a bit occasionally and I ain't dead yet.

[snagglepuss]

10. "when the blue cheese goes bad, it will give off a smell akin to ammonia...and change in color".

snip


How to tell if blue cheese is bad

Blue cheese usually contains an edible mould which is safe to eat. This mould is usually instrumental in the spoiling of blue cheese. In view of this, knowing how to spot spoilt cheese is very important as consumption of bad cheese can be very dangerous. There are many ways through which an individuals can determine this, some of the most common methods include. Color check – the color of the blue cheese is a good indicator of whether the cheese has turned bad. You should not look at the blue streaks or spots as these never change, the white or creamy part of the cheese is usually the best indicator. If this area has changed color to pink, green, brown or is yellowed beyond the usual color, the cheese has gone bad and should be discarded. Smell- good cheese usually has an odor of beef, meat or buttermilk. However, when the blue cheese goes bad, it will give off a smell akin to ammonia. This is a good indication of spoiled blue cheese.



snip

How to store blue cheese

Proper storage of blue cheese is very essential as it is a chief determinant when it comes to the shelf life of the blue cheese. When storing cheese it is important to note that under no condition should blue cheese be stored in plastic wrapping. The reason behind this is that blue cheese has micro organisms growing within it and restriction of air circulation is the worst mistake an individual can make since it will reduce shell life. Plastic wrapping also has a taste associated with it and it is a matter of hours before this flavor makes its way to the face of the cheese.

In view of this, the best way of storing cheese is to first wrap the blue cheese in waxed parchment paper before placing it in the refrigerator. It is also recommended that the cheese should be put in a loose plastic bag to keep out the fridge odors. Be careful not to place other types of cheese near the blue cheese as the mould type in blue cheese is different from that of other cheese types.



http://www.doesitgobad.com/does-blue-cheese-go-bad/

[gopiscrap]

4. Interesting

[jsr]

5. Very useful information

[snagglepuss]

11. I recommend the "Does It Go Bad" webite.

http://www.doesitgobad.com/

[swag]

15. Groovy!

[athenasatanjesus]

16. Milk is less about the date,

and more about how much is left in the carton,the less in the carton the faster it spoils.

[4dsc]

17. Most of this crap is high processed foods

so throwing it away isn't doing anyone too much harm. We should be growing more of own food and not relying upon corporate America to feed us.

[proverbialwisdom]

18. More.

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-date-labels-20130928,0,6348736.story

What date labels on food can, and can't, tell you

By Mary MacVean
September 27, 2013, 2:00 p.m.

Ted Labuza ate sour cream two weeks past its due date. And lived to tell the tale.

Dana Gunders went to the market and found fat-free milk in quarts that had no date label; the half-gallons had a "sell-by" date. A container from a different brand had a "best-by" date.

Even though nearly all consumers make some decisions about what to throw away based on those stamped dates, they cannot rely on them, said Gunders, food and agriculture staff scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

She is the coauthor of a report issued by the NRDC and the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic calling for changes to make the dates more useful. Currently, those dates are manufacturers' suggestions for when an item is at its peak or are efforts to help stores manage their inventory — not indications of food safety, the report says.

<>

[blkmusclmachine]

19. .

.

[Jefferson23]

20. One source I trust on this topic is Cook's Illustrated...they also do a spot on PBS.

http://www.americastestkitchen.com/

http://www.cooksillustrated.com/


Btw, great recipes and instruction as well.