Before you start ditching food, learn how to read the date labels

Like many of you, at the beginning of shelter at home I took a deep dive into my pantry of stored foods.

What a treasure hunt that was. I found so many cans that I had no recollection of buying, items I had forgotten and bought duplicates and a few nasty looking cans.

On each can in the pantry and older items in the refrigerator, I put on my reading glasses and started deciphering the expiration dates. I learned it’s not as easy as it sounds so here is a cheat sheet on how to interpret the print on the can.

Best if Used by/ Before- This indicates when a product will be of best flavor or quality. It is not a purchase or safety date

Sell by- This tells the store how long to display the product for sale. It is not a safety date.

Use by date- This is the last date recommended for the use of the product while at peak quality. It is not a safety date except on infant formula.

Americans waste about 30% of food each year. And some of that could be to misunderstanding these labels. They all refer to quality, not safety.

If a can is rusted, leaking or arousing any suspicions, then tossing is the safe thing to do. But when opened, if it smells and looks as expected it is probably just fine. Not at peak quality, but safe. Don’t automatically toss a can with a past due date.

Eggs are flying off the shelves and their labels are different. Eggs have a clearly marked best by date and under that is a three digit number. This number corresponds to the calendar date the egg was packaged.

My carton of eggs has the number 063, which means they were packaged March 3. These eggs are still safe to eat but might not be of the same taste as they would have been it I ate them a few weeks ago.

Sheah Rarback MS, RDN is in private practice in Miami.