Use your senses when it comes to food storage

Research has shown that those between the ages of 16 to 28 are the most food wasters because they cannot tell if a food item has really gone off and rely mostly on the expiry date printed on the label.

Once the expiry date has been reached they throw the item into the bin without even sniffing it or carefully examining it. The much older generation, on the other hand, uses its common sense and what their parents taught them growing up. Nothing is just thrown in the bin because the manufacturer stamped a label on it saying so. Expiry labels first came out in the 1970s. But before that most folk relied on their eyes and noses. If it looked off because of some growth, it went in the bin. If it smelled off, it went in the bin. These older folk now do some simple mathematics and compare their experience with what the label says and conclude that the date does not really suggest it’s gone off.

Now most food experts say that the sell-by date on a food item is just a suggestion and, common sense, tells us that they might be right. They tell us that the date is more about the quality of the food than its safety. They do, however, warn that there is also a ‘use by’ date and a food item should not be used the day after that date. They also advise, which is odd, that you can, however, use the item on the day of the use-by date but not after. The whole thing sounds strange and a bit hard to believe. My question is, what happens after midnight?

The whole point is to use your common sense. But it seems that the newest generation doesn’t use it and relies solely on what they’re being told by the packaging. Let’s take what looks like an overripe banana (you can get a pack of ‘snack bananas’ in the supermarket for a reasonable price). These bananas are extraordinary in that when they are over-ripe your immediate impulse is to bin them because they look like they’ve gone off. But peel them and they’re perfect to eat. Not over-ripe at all.

Most food producers might say that if it looks off, throw it out but we should be using all our senses, including our common sense. Another is milk. Now I know that dairy products can be a bit iffy and probably quick to go off, especially if left out. But I’ve often used milk that has gone past its expiry date and, I guarantee you, it has not gone off. It tastes fine and I’ve been fine consuming it. The thing with dairy products is that you should rely on your sense of smell. If it smells rancid, then it’s gone off.

Obviously if a product has some foreign growth on it, it’s gone off and must be thrown away. If lettuce has turned brown, I would throw it out. If it’s gone limp, I would not. Now with some products it’s hard to tell if they’ve gone off and that’s where experience comes in. Over-ripe tomatoes, for example, haven’t gone off but it’s when they’ve turned a weird colour or have some growth on them that you need to bin them.

But tinned goods are hard to fathom because you can’t tell if they’re usable because you can neither see them nor smell them. The only information available to you is the expiry date. Things like tins of tuna should be discarded by the expiry date because fish can be as iffy as dairy products. That being said, even if a tinned item is within its expiry date and you see one with a dent on it, don’t buy it. I’ve been taught that it already has bacteria growing inside it. Storing and using foods is all about experience and common sense. It’s also about not relying totally on an expiry date which seems arbitrary and be more about the quality of a food item than its safety. The younger generation needs to learn how to do this otherwise they will waste food unnecessarily and spend a lot more money.