Save a packet and reduce food waste
You might be wasting money if you throw food out based on its best-before date, writes Susan Edmunds.
Irecently pulled a jar of Vegemite out of my parents’ pantry and discovered it had passed its best before date – by five years. This isn’t actually unusual. I am sure there are jars of stuff in there that have been around longer than I have.
But good news for my reluctantto-throw-anything-out family – while testing the extreme limits isn’t widely recommended, food experts agree that if you throw things out the minute they pass their best-before dates, you’re wasting money.
What do the dates show?
Food items usually have a ‘‘bestbefore’’ or a ‘‘use-by’’ date.
The best-before is a guide – until that date, the product is fully marketable and should hold on to its quality.
After the date, it can still be sold but it might not be in quite the condition that was intended by the manufacturer. Usually, these are foods that don’t change a lot, or products like milk, where you’ll notice something is amiss before it actually becomes unsafe to eat.
‘‘Food can be sold and eaten after its best-before date as long as it’s been stored properly,’’ said Consumer NZ head of research Jessica Wilson.
‘‘But it may have lost some nutritional value and might not taste the best.’’
Use-by dates are more of a hard line – often things such as deli meat and seafood – and indicate when it is no longer safe to eat. Things can’t be sold past their use-by date.
Steve Flint, professor of food safety and microbiology at Massey University, said both dates would be set conservatively. ‘‘People are often critical of food manufacturers. They can’t afford to take any risk. If people get sick it would tarnish their reputation so they’re cautious. There’s quite a large safety margin.’’
How long is it okay? Eggs
There’s evidence that as long as you’ve kept them under 5C – in the fridge, basically – then you can eat eggs for up to five weeks. Use the float test to determine whether they’ve gone off – if they don’t sink in a pot of water, approach with caution. Cooking eggs thoroughly should kill any bacteria.
Milk and other dairy products
Milk and dairy products will smell – and look – suspect well before eating them will actually make you sick. It’s estimated that milk should be fine up to a week after its bestbefore date, provided it has been in the fridge the whole time. Yoghurt can hold on a couple of weeks.
And even if your hard cheese is growing mould, you can chop that bit off and eat the rest. But don’t risk it with soft cheeses – they can be a haven for bacteria once they get a bit old.
Biscuits
You can eat store-bought biscuits up to two months after their best before date and still expect them to be of pretty normal standard. Potato chips, another highly processed food, are the same. Flint said how products would fare would depend on their composition. ‘‘Gingernuts, hard biscuits, if they’re exposed to moisture they become soft and undesirable. A lot depends on the type of product,’’ Flint said.
Salad
A bag of store-bought lettuce leaves can become slimy and wilted relatively quickly. You can try reviving it in chilled water. Either way, it’s still safe as long as it’s not growing any mould.
Canned goods
You’ll notice that many canned goods don’t have a best-before date at all. If something has a shelf life of two years or longer it does not have to be labelled. In those cases, judge by the layer of dust. If you can write your name in it, give it some extra scrutiny. Dry pasta is another thing that should keep forever – just make sure it isn’t exposed to moisture.
Chocolate
That white speckling on chocolate when it gets a bit old will not harm you. You can safely eat chocolate after its best-before date – it should last up to two years.
Pickles
Anything that’s very salty or very sweet will hold on longer than bestbefore dates suggest. A jar of gherkins will last a long time and honey or jam will also be preserved by its sugar content. That sweet factor means things such as fudge last well beyond their dates, too.
Alcohol
Spirits generally last a very long time. Beer does go off, but it will taste odd before it does you any real harm. Take care with creamy liqueurs, though, especially if they have been exposed to the sun.
❚ Note: Best-before and use-by dates are set with the expectation that you’ll keep the product according to the instructions on the label. If it says your yoghurt needs to be refrigerated, and you don’t do that, you cannot be surprised if it does not last as long as predicted.