Nobody wants to eat old yucky food, but sometimes expiration dates are taken too literally and money is wasted on food that didn’t need to be thrown away. Did you know that in the United States alone over $218 billion is spent every year on food that is thrown away uneaten? That’s crazy!
Don’t just automatically toss out that box of crackers that’s passed its “best before” date. The “best before” date indicates when the manufacturer considers the product to be at peak freshness, not that it’s unsafe to eat after that date. Actually, many foods are perfectly fine even after their “best before” dates have passed.
The following infographic from Lakeshore Convention Centre illustrates the real meaning of food labels and explains how food expiration dates are not related to food safety at all.
Instead of blindly following expiration dates, use your own judgement and the infographic to determine if that box of cookies in the back of the pantry is okay to eat or not. Your wallet will thank you!
Thanks to Sanjay Agnihotri from Lakeshore Convention Centre for the graphic and information about food expiration dates!
