Deciphering Expiration Dates on Food Packaging

Reading the labels on food packaging can sometimes be more confusing than solving a five star Sudoku puzzle. If you can even find the poorly printed expiration date, you don't know if that's a sell-by date or if the food will be terrible for you if you eat it after that date. Without knowledge about this common label on food and snack packaging, people are wasting hundreds of dollars a year throwing out perfectly good food.

When you're reading expiration dates, you have to consider the type of food in question. For most foods, these dates are there to tell you about food quality and not safety. There is a big difference between quality and safety. Quality refers to how the food looks, tastes, and smells. It is how a consumer expects this particular food to normally taste. A food that is past a use-by date will still be safe to eat, however, it just won't taste as fresh or as good as it would have a few days ago. This applies to most packaged food, especially items like snacks.

Meat is the big exception here and it should come as no surprise. You have to be very careful with any meat that you purchase. The date on this food packaging really does need to be looked at closely. Meat can be dangerous because of the potentially harmful pathogens they contain. When the date arrives, that meat should be either eaten, frozen, or tossed. With most meat products, you can go max, a day or two past that date before it becomes unsafe. However, take special care when eating ground meat. Grinding involves an additional handling step, which is another opportunity for contamination.

There are foods that can do just fine well passed the expiration date on food packaging -- and I don't mean Twinkies. Dried grains and beans don't pose a threat at all if eaten after the date. This is because there is a very low level of moisture so bacteria cannot grow. Another batch of items that you have leniency with are condiments. The date on condiments is again a quality date. These foods are high in salt which acts as a natural preservative. Canned foods last quite awhile too. But even though you can eat a can of beans a year later, it probably won't taste nearly as good.

When it comes to determining safety, you have to use your best judgment. No, you don't want to waste perfectly good food, but you don't want to risk getting sick either. When in doubt, throw it out. If a food is just a few days past the date and it smells okay and looks okay, chances are you are in the clear. There is no federal law about mandating use-by dates, but most food packaging contains them anyway. Be mindful of these dates and know that if it's packaged properly and safely, it's okay to eat.


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