Here's Why You're Probably Tossing Your 'Expired' Products Too Early

How many times have you poured yourself a huge bowl of cereal, only to realize that the milk expired yesterday?

You probably debate using it for a split-second, checking the date a second time to make sure, maybe even doing a little smell test.

After all, how accurate are expiration dates anyways? And why do they word it in so many different ways?

You’ve probably noticed that the expiration dates on your different products either say “sell-by,” “use-by,” or “best-by”—and they definitely don’t have the same meaning.

Fortunately, in a recent report for Institute of Food Technologists, Bob Brackett, Ph.D., director of the Institute for Food Safety and Health at the Illinois Institute of Technology, clears up the confusion and breaks down the meaning behind each label.

Sell-By

This date indicates when the retailer should take the product off of their shelves. In general, the specific date means a product is about two-thirds of the way through its shelf life. This is good news for you, the buyer, as the product will still have plenty of time for you to use it at home.

Use-By

In all honesty, if you’re about to make breakfast and you notice that the “use-by” date on your eggs was three days ago, your safest bet is to throw them away. This date indicates that the quality of the product will start decreasing rapidly at this point.

Best-Buy

This is the date at which the product’s quality will start declining, though not quite as quickly as something with a “use-by” label. If you’re debating using a product by the “best-buy” date, it may still be safe to eat, but not as fresh as you’d like it to be.

Here are a couple of other things Brackett says you should keep in mind when it comes to throwing food away:

Don’t Judge By Smell or Taste

If we think our milk might have spoiled already, we usually smell it first to make sure. However, Brackett says the milk doesn’t have to smell sour or look chunky to be unsafe to drink. In fact, he says that disease-causing organisms are invisible, so they aren’t behind your discolored milk.

You Probably Toss Products Too Early

According to Brackett, unless a product’s “use-by” or “sell-by” date is followed by the words “for safety,” then it’s probably still safe to consume beyond that date. The only major exception is if the product has already been opened. Once something is opened, it may be contaminated by anything else in the environment.

What do you think of this? Let us know in the comments!

Photo Copyright © 2012 Mark Turnauckas/Flickr