Out of date food | What that label really means
Author: John Coorey
Everyone is naturally concerned about out of date food, and of course you want to have the best quality food for your family. Although, to save money, many people often turn to out of date food that is perfectly safe and fine to eat, and doesn’t cause any harm to your precious family.
Here’s some good tips about what those out of date food labels really mean, and whether your best before, or use by date needs to be carefully adhered to, or is just a guide for your wellbeing.
The best before and use by labels are meant to tell supermarkets and retailers how long is the best period to keep items on shelves. According to the Department of Agriculture in the USA, these are NOT safety dates, they are actually only estimates of when the product is best suitable to eat.
So what does this mean for your decision to eat or not eat for out of date food?
The most important label is “Use By,” which provides the best clue for freshness. If the use by date is expired, then throw that out of date food away immediately! Don’t delay one minute! Once that food is use by expired, it’s unsafe for you to eat and we certainly don’t want you to have any adverse health effects!
Out of date food labelling is not even mandatory in all USA states!
The only out of date mandatory labelling in the USA is for baby food and infant formula. For all other products it is optional in some USA states. Sometimes you just have to use your senses to get the best feel for whether food is safe to eat or not. (Well, that’s what they did in the old days at least….) If you store your food carefully, you can make the food last for weeks after purchase and still be safe to eat.
If you want to buy or sell out of date food – get in touch!
We buy and sell out of date food every day. We always ensure that it is safe to eat, and a lot of the time the food is actually still in date, but it is short dated food. Let us know if you have bulk out of date food for us to buy from you, or if you want to purchase out of date food from our extensive range.