Do you know that the waste has a relationship with the expiration date on food that goes beyond verifying that a product not consumed in due time goes to the trash? This is something that many people carry strictly in your diet to avoid possible poisoning, but you have to be more careful. If this practice already worries because in Europe they are wasting 88 million tons of food per year, a fact is even more alarming. Almost the 10% of all that amount that ends up in the container has a very surprising reason: people who do not understand the dates on the label of the container. We will explain it below.
Confusion with dates
La app Too Good To Go, of which we already spoke to you in an article to present it, has been the one that has shared that worrying figure. "Currently about nine million tonnes of food are wasted in the European Union in relation to date labeling," he says. Madeleine Rugeroni, director of this firm in Spain. As he points out following that line, four out of ten consumers they still have doubts about what those numbers that appear on food packages mean. What can clearly lead to throwing them away even though they are fit for consumption.
It is evident that this is one more handicap, added to the global problem of wasting food products «but a lot of that waste could be avoided«. Faced with the confusion of this percentage of people, «it is necessary to offer clearer tools«. Those that facilitate understanding to distinguish not only between the expiration date on food but also among other meanings. For example, that of preferred consumption or phrases related to recommendations of conservation once the container is opened.
The latter is especially common to find in fresh meats and fish but packaged. After opening their packaging, they usually have a short period of possibility to have it in the fridge without its state diminishing. While both in fruits as in vegetables you can visually observe in the appearance, aroma or taste if that food is suitable to eat it without problems.
Be careful with the expiration date on specific foods
Although you should pay attention to that information, which, however, does not always appear with total clarity on the product packaging, from Too Good To Go they remember another point. The expiration date on food concrete can be more flexible than in others and this is important to know. Thus, after that time limit, it should no longer be safe for your health but be careful with the best before date dates. This means that this food can lose some of its properties but not that it involves risks if you ingest it.
Therefore, these products can be consumed by some days, weeks and even months after that preference has expired. In which cases can you enjoy this license? From the Catalan Food Safety Agency (CASA) They exemplify this in yogurts or sliced bread, suitable for consumption up to 15 days after that date. On the other hand, cereals, juices, cookies and even sauces can be enjoyed for three months and even coffee, legumes, pasta, rice or flour up to a year later.
In another category we could include the preserves, food resources that are always very practical to have at home and that have a long date. From three to six years or even more. As long as they are not open, of course.
How to avoid waste?
Rugeroni points out what is the best solution to reduce food waste derived from confusion about whether to consume a certain product or not. «You have to apply the sense logic. Observe its appearance, check if it smells good and taste it, ”he explains. This theory can be applied to yourself right now in your day to day in a practical way before directly throwing something just by looking at the numbers on its labeling. Also remember read each data well so as not to be confused with the date of packaging or with the conservation once the packaging is opened.
Reduce waste is one of the great challenges that the ONU in the next few years, so it is so convenient to improve the information of the expiration date on food as you follow those advice pointed out. Because you too can help the cause.
