Expiration Dates Aren’t Accurate: Here’s What You Need To Know

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You open your fridge and take out the milk for cereal, and then you see it: the dreaded expiration date. Uh oh, it says to throw out your milk today, but it smells fine. You start wondering, are expiration dates accurate? According to research, expiration dates are misleading.

First, there’s a difference between “sell by” dates and “expiration dates.” Business Insider reports that “sell by” dates don’t necessarily refer to a food’s freshness. Standards vary from state to state, meaning that a bag of lettuce with a “sell by” date of today could be immaterial. An expiration date is intended to signal when you should no longer consume a food. It’s an indicator of “optimal quality,” not when it goes bad.

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The Natural Resources Defense Council conducted a study on how often foods go bad when expiration dates say they will. Surprisingly, the council found that not only did many foods go bad after the expiration date suggested, but that Americans were throwing out good foods at an alarming rate.

How alarming? The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that each American wastes 36 pounds of food per month.

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The takeaway? Use your own judgment and follow general guidelines for tossing your food. Here are a few examples of when you should actually trash groceries:

Bread: If you see a tiny spot of mold, throw away the entire loaf. There are likely other instances of mold in there. We’re not about that.

Eggs: If they smell, throw them out. They should not smell, period. If they don’t smell, you’re in the clear.

Meat: If it feels slimy or smells bad, throw it out. Otherwise, it’s probably safe for use.

Leafy Greens: A change in color indicates a green like kale has gone bad. You can also tell by how fresh it smells.

Use your best judgment (and your senses, particularly smell!) to decide whether a food should be thrown out. You got this.