Chicago Home and Lifestyles – Food expiration dates explained
With the price of groceries these days, we really want to get our money’s worth and not waste perfectly good food. Not to mention the problem of billions of pounds of edible food going into landfills! But of course, we don’t want to make our families ill either. Much of this is common sense, but often labels can be confusing.
Expiration is not always finite and is sometimes confused with a “best by” date. In general, it is the date where food is considered to be no longer safe to eat. This is especially true for quickly perishable foods like dairy and meat. Vegetables and bread are easy to see. Vegetables will be wilted and bread becomes stale, but they can still be eaten safely as long as there is no visible mold. On the other hand, eggs can be eaten safely up to 3 weeks past expiration if they are refrigerated!
A “sell by” date is the last day an item can be kept on a grocery store shelf. Many foods are still safe to consume as long as you store them safely, especially dairy and meat or poultry. You can still consume these for a few days to a week past the sell by date.
“Best by” date only applies to taste and quality. It is a manufacturer’s date that they recommend you consume their product for the best flavor and texture. Food may not be as flavorful after that date, but can be repurposed like using stale bread for breadcrumbs or stuffing. Or, use some less than fresh canned vegetables in a soup or stew.
A “freeze by” date is pretty straightforward. You need to freeze these items by that date to avoid rapid deterioration and spoilage. This most often applies to meat and poultry. These food items last only a few days in the refrigerator but will last months in the freezer. Keep freezer items dated and rotated in the freezer. I don’t recommend using frozen meat held longer than 6 months; 3-4 months if it’s ground meat. Use proper storage containers like heavy duty freezer bags and containers labeled “for freezer use”.
Here are a few recommended storage times for common foods:
- Bread: 4 days at room temperature. 3 months in the freezer.
- Hard cheese: 3-4 weeks opened and refrigerated. 6 months unopened.
- Eggs: 3-4 weeks refrigerated.
- Fish: 1-3 days refrigerated. 2-4 months frozen.
- Grains like oats and rice: 2 years or more in an airtight container.
- Brown rice: 6 months.
- Milk: 5-7 days, open and refrigerated. If unopened, 5-7 days past sell by date.
- Onions and potatoes: 2-3 months at room temperature, but don’t store them together.
Of course, we all know the old saying: when in doubt, throw it out! No one wants to make anyone sick, but we can certainly save a few dollars by not throwing out perfectly good food.
Kathleen Weaver-Zech and Dean’s Team Chicago
