Food expiration dates don’t mean what you think - Carolyn Beans

Summary by Krater

This video explores the history and reliability of food date labels, explaining why most dates indicate peak quality rather than food safety and how confusing labels contribute to massive food waste.

From the video

Answers: Are foods past their expiration date actually safe to eat?

• food waste
• food date labels
• best by dates
• food safety
• expiration dates
• grocery inventory systems
• open dating

What it concludes

• 37% of US food waste comes from individual households, with roughly 20% tossed because consumers misunderstand date labels.
• Most grocery date labels indicate peak freshness rather than food safety or expiration.
• Canned foods, shelf-stable items, frozen foods, and properly refrigerated eggs remain safe to eat long past their printed date labels.
• Unpasteurized cheeses, deli meats, and pre-packaged salads carry higher risks of carrying pathogenic bacteria past their dates.
• Standardizing date labels to 'Best if used by' for quality and 'Use by' for safety could prevent roughly 398,000 tons of food waste annually.