• What do you think the percentage is of Americans who throws out good food (even junk food) based on the expiration date? I mean - they do so not because the food might be stale but because they believe it suddenly became possibly toxic to eat.

  • What's the percentage for non-food stuff like soap? The other day I noticed my liquid hand soap has an expiration date for whatever reason. I better hurry up - I only have two years left of it being safe.

I started thinking about it after I read this...

"Good thing I read the labels and dates before I opened or ate anything. I avoided potential food poisoning and/or a trip to urgent care by paying attention."

It's from an Amazon review. After they checked the label - they learned the package was delivered with an expiration date two weeks past. They are talking about a Ruffles potato chip variety pack.

  • SpookyGenderCommunist [they/them, she/her]
    ·
    1 year ago

    What do you think the percentage is of Americans who throws out good food (even junk food) based on the expiration date? I mean - they do so not because the food might be stale but because they believe it suddenly became possibly toxic to eat.

    As someone who works in a grocery store, the answer is too damn many. "Best by", "use by" "sell by" dates are all meaningless, and entirely vibes based.

    Sell by, specifically, is only relevant to the employee stocking the shelves. But people think that the deli meat with a sell by date of tomorrow will kill them if they eat it in two days.

    No honey, that was sliced today. It'll be fine in your fridge for like, a week, as long as you take proper storage precautions.

    Your Food is Lying to You