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Old December 27th, 2013 #1
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Default US tosses 40% of food, blindly follows dumb expiration dates


A new report called, "The Dating Game:

How Confusing Food Date Labels Lead to Food Waste in America," describes our expiration-date labeling system here in the US as convoluted, confusing, inconsistent, ineffective, disorienting, ambiguous, and dizzying. It doesn't think much of the system, in other words.

The Resident (aka Lori Harfenist) discusses.
 
Old December 27th, 2013 #2
Roger Bannon
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Those expiration dates are the law as far as the grocery stores are concerned. So people logically conclude that if the knowledgeable people of the food industry won't sell it past that date then it must be an accurate expectation of the time food will spoil.

I give some leeway on milk, cheese, eggs and vacuum wrapped items off the top of my head.
 
Old December 27th, 2013 #3
MikeTodd
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I let the food tell me if it's good or not. Looks good, smells good=is good.
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Old December 27th, 2013 #4
Nate Richards
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I think this will correct itself before long. Wasting simply won't be an option in the future, as this thing collapses.

In the meantime, take advantage of it.

Much of it IS NOT just tossed out. It's handed out. Find out where that's done in your area. Unless you live rural or in a very small town, you're an idiot to not be doing this already. There's probably a spot less than a mile from you. Are you as deserving as niggers, mexicans, addicts and lazy morons? Those groups make up the majority of the clientele, at most of these places.

I live in a boom town and my last manual labor job paid ridiculously well, but most of what I eat comes from the salvation army. You don't have to sign up at this one, it's not a "food box" handout based on income. Anyone can come load up on this stuff. Local grocers are always a bit off on their demand estimates. Lately my roommates and I have more eggs, milk, and pretzels than we can eat so the neighbors have to help. Last week it was Yogurt, bagged salads, and apples galore. These places *always* have excess bread, and for some reason ours always has bananas. They usually have a ton of doughnuts, cookies, and other inedible more-sugar-than-food-content crap like that. You can barter these to non-whites and mental defectives.

You will rarely get meat or fish at these places unless you are no/low income and sign up for their regular handout.

Each week I buy a couple good cuts of meat, a few oranges, the odd condiment/herb/spice as needed. Probably spend 40 a week to stay *very* well fed. Some of the guys I worked with were spending more than that *daily* because they were living out of gas stations. Gotta have mini-pizzas, energy drinks, and "smart water" all day lol
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Old December 27th, 2013 #5
James Dovery
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Americans are fat enough. They could probably stand to toss 40% more of their food away.
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Old December 27th, 2013 #6
James Dovery
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I have seen a Target store regularly throw away a dozen 1lb chubs of hamburger for 6 months before management decided to stop ordering it.
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Old December 27th, 2013 #7
Crowe
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Things like milk are easy to tell if they're spoiled or not. Pop the cap off, and if it smells sour then trash it.

I usually freeze meat before or on the expiration date, that way I can thaw it out in the fridge and cook it without it spoiling on me. Meat can be good for as long as a week after the date.

I always buy meat on sale that is getting close to the expiration date. A lot of times its marked 1/2 off or better. Buy it, freeze it, then eat it later. I even picked up a T bone steak the other day for like $6.
 
Old January 1st, 2014 #8
GREG IN SPOKANE
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Usually with chicken and other poultry it's a good idea to adhere to the expiration date unless you wanna piss out your ass for a week.
 
Old January 4th, 2014 #9
Lucian A.
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Expiration dates be damned.

All we eat at our house is canned ravioli from 1995, and nobody ever died.
 
Old January 4th, 2014 #10
Nate Richards
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Quote:
All we eat at our house is canned ravioli from 1995, and nobody ever died.
Somebody's gonna wish they did lol I hope you're joking about this one.

Some things really can stay good for decades, though. Depends what it is and how it was stored. My grandparents were big into food storage and I was eating some of that stuff for years after they expired. I remember eating jars of apricots that were a decade old. There was nothing wrong with taste or texture, but they had darkened a little. They were in glass, so I guess they got just enough light over the years to damage the color.
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Old January 7th, 2014 #11
Crowe
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I ate a bag of peanuts the other day that expired in 2009. They were forgotten about and found again recently. Dry roasted, in the shells. They weren't as crunchy as fresh ones, but it didn't make me sick or give me the shits.

If dry roasted peanuts can keep for 5 years and still be edible, then its good protein you can stock up on. There are probably better ways to store them where they might last even longer.
 
Old January 7th, 2014 #12
James Dovery
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Crowe View Post
I ate a bag of peanuts the other day that expired in 2009. They were forgotten about and found again recently. Dry roasted, in the shells. They weren't as crunchy as fresh ones, but it didn't make me sick or give me the shits.

If dry roasted peanuts can keep for 5 years and still be edible, then its good protein you can stock up on. There are probably better ways to store them where they might last even longer.
One of thee most cancerous molds grows on peanuts.
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Old January 8th, 2014 #13
Gordon Green
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For the average non-perishables, the max limit is 6 months. I ate some older than 6 months before and got the dizzies.

Milk and meat expiry dates are pretty accurate. I tried the same stupid eating after the stamped date and nearly fainted throughout the day.
 
Old April 5th, 2015 #14
Samuel Toothgold
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Default Grass roots initiatives sprouting in Switzerland and Germany for rescuing such foodstuffs from unnecessary disposal:

http://www.20min.ch/schweiz/basel/st...Muell-24217861

One kilogram plums. All in top quality, except for one with a blemished spot. A beef filet which surpassed the expiration date by only one day. A paper bag filled with still fresh bread. This is the result of rummishing a supermarket's disposal container:

Quote:
...Ein Kilo Pflaumen, alle tipptopp bis auf eine mit einer faulen Stelle. Ein Rindsfilet, einen Tag über dem Verkaufsdatum. Und ein Papiersack, bis zum Rand mit frischem Brot gefüllt: Das ist die Beute einer sonntäglichen Containertour...
Recovered foodstuffs:

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