What 'best by' really means
You are probably throwing away good food
A date is printed on the carton. The day passes. Into the trash it goes.
But that printed date does not mean the food went bad.
How much does an average American spend each year on food they never eat?
Researchers studied these labels. They found the same thing.
“More than 90 percent of Americans may be throwing food away prematurely.”
NRDC & Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic, “The Dating Game,” 2013
For a family of four, that adds up. The same study put the waste at about $275 to $455 each year.
“The date is the day the food turns unsafe to eat.”Tap to reveal
Hard to spot because the date looks like a safety rule. Most dates mark peak quality — taste, texture, freshness — not safety. The label rarely says which one it means.
A few foods are different. For some, the date is a real safety line.
So that money is not gone. A lot of it is sitting in your fridge.
The rest of this module shows what each date really means.