Misunderstood food date labels cost U.S. families thousands of dollars each year. New FDA efforts to standardize labels and practical tips can help you save money and reduce waste.
To reduce confusion, the FDA and USDA have been pushing manufacturers to voluntarily adopt the phrase “best if used by” to signify quality rather than safety. Research shows this terminology is more likely to be correctly interpreted by consumers.
Climate Town had a great video on the whole expiration date thing. It started off by manufacturers to help keep stock rotated and often were cryptic and not at all consistent. It was never meant as any guarantee of anything, and are mostly estimates.
Unless you buy that milk from Dollar General. Seriously. Don’t buy milk from Dollar General. You’re lucky to get a jug dated more than a week out, and if you do you’d better have used it by at least 4-5 days before the date. That shit will 100% spoil before that date, every single time.
Probably because of what I referenced in an above reply. Even closed up, the milk needs to be kept cold. If they let it sit a bit while stocking, it’s still cold but something happens (maybe some chemist can chime in). 5-10 mins waiting before they go back into the cooler probably kills a few days.
LPT: every time you want some milk, go to your grocery store and chug an entire gallon, right there in the aisle, as any additional time will make it spoil
It varies. Whole milk, you’re rolling 50/50. But 2% and less can last a while if you protect them from any warming, even briefly. I had milk going bad pretty early until I figured out that the door shelf is a few degrees warmer than the inside back. Always keep my milk back there and quickly pour it and return it, and I’ve had a few actually last almost a week past the date. I do always smell before I pour. Learned that lesson the hard way with some cereal once. Ew.
From the article:
So they aren’t even making it a rule?
I was also hoping they would make rules about legibility and date formats (ideally ISO 8601 based)
Climate Town had a great video on the whole expiration date thing. It started off by manufacturers to help keep stock rotated and often were cryptic and not at all consistent. It was never meant as any guarantee of anything, and are mostly estimates.
Although with milk it tends to be pretty damn close in my experience.
Unless you buy that milk from Dollar General. Seriously. Don’t buy milk from Dollar General. You’re lucky to get a jug dated more than a week out, and if you do you’d better have used it by at least 4-5 days before the date. That shit will 100% spoil before that date, every single time.
I try to avoid DG, but Kroger is like scarily accurate.
Probably because of what I referenced in an above reply. Even closed up, the milk needs to be kept cold. If they let it sit a bit while stocking, it’s still cold but something happens (maybe some chemist can chime in). 5-10 mins waiting before they go back into the cooler probably kills a few days.
It spends more time than that in your cart and car when you’re buying it.
LPT: every time you want some milk, go to your grocery store and chug an entire gallon, right there in the aisle, as any additional time will make it spoil
It varies. Whole milk, you’re rolling 50/50. But 2% and less can last a while if you protect them from any warming, even briefly. I had milk going bad pretty early until I figured out that the door shelf is a few degrees warmer than the inside back. Always keep my milk back there and quickly pour it and return it, and I’ve had a few actually last almost a week past the date. I do always smell before I pour. Learned that lesson the hard way with some cereal once. Ew.
So rather than asking them to make it useful, they’re asking the companies to make it clearer that it isn’t useful
Yes. Ensuring the language isn’t misleading is good.