Be Savvy about Safety & “Use-By” Dates

Expiration dates and other labels can be misleading about the product’s safety and result in a lot of perfectly good food being wasted. Keep reading for tips on how to assess whether a food is safe to eat and make informed choices about expiration dates.

Food Safety Tips

Tip #1

The Best Way to Tell if Food is Still Good: Your Senses

  • Sight: Look for mold, discoloration, or swelling cans.
  • Smell: Trust your nose—sour or off smells signal spoilage.
  • Texture: Slime or odd textures can mean it’s gone bad.
  • Taste: If it looks and smells okay, taste a small bite—spoiled food will taste off.
Watch Video on Expiration Dates

Food Safety Tips

Tip #2

For Frozen Food & Pantry Staples, Chances Are It’s Still Good

  • Food poisoning bacteria cannot grow in the freezer, no matter how long the food has been in there. After many months it may not taste as good due to freezer burn, but it is still safe to eat!
  • Most shelf-stable foods are safe indefinitely, according to the USDA, as long as the can isn’t dented, swelling, or rusty. Packaged foods such as cereals may get stale and lose their quality, but they are safe to consume.

Food Safety Tips

Tip #3

Food Handling Basics:

  • Clean—Wash hands and surfaces often.
  • Separate—Don’t cross-contaminate (especially with raw meats and seafood). Avoid using the same cutting board without thorough washing.
  • Cook—Cook to proper temperatures, checking with a food thermometer.
  • Chill—Refrigerate promptly.
See More at USDA.Gov

Food Safety Tips

Tip #4

Additional Tips:

  • DON’T leave perishable food out at room temperature for longer than 2 hours, or no longer than 1 hour if the temperature is above 90F.
  • DO set your fridge to no higher than 40 degrees F. Most experts recommend 37F. Watch this 1-minute video for an easy way to check your fridge temperature!
  • DO wipe up spills immediately to prevent the growth of bacteria (FDA)
Watch Video

Summary of Key Points

  1. Date labels do not indicate food safety (except for infant formula). Use your senses to determine whether a food is safe to consume with the Sight, Smell, Texture, and Taste test.
  2. Follow the food handling basics to minimize the risk of food-borne illness: Clean, Separate, Cook, Chill.
  3. Take advantage of the freezer and proper storage techniques to make food last longer and reduce the chance of harmful bacteria growth.

Food Safety

Knowledge Check

Select your answers to these questions:

Question 1

What does the “best by” date on food packaging indicate?

Question 2

What is the best way to tell if a shelf-stable food is safe to eat?

Food Safety

Knowledge Check

Question 1

What does the “best by” date on food packaging indicate?

Question 2

What is the best way to tell if a shelf-stable food is safe to eat?

Goals for Food Safety

Think twice before throwing something out because of a sell by/use by date.

Use the Sight, Smell, Texture, and Taste Test before tossing something.

Commit to good food handling practices.

What’s Next?

Homepage Food Safety Resources
The Next Stage of Food Waste