Can you – should you – eat food that has passed its expiry date?
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CNA Lifestyle
Can you – should yous – eat food that has passed its expiry date?
Information technology seems like a waste to throw food out, merely is that milk or breadstuff condom to consume? CNA Lifestyle finds out from the experts.
(Photo: Bigstock)
12 Nov 2022 06:28AM (Updated: 03 Jul 2022 03:49PM)
It might take been a while since you lot last needed something from the larder. Other than the mustiness and odd strands of fiber, in that location might likewise be a few forgotten cans, jars or packs of food and drinks from a while back that brand yous wonder: Are they still edible?
The death date is naturally your best indication. But when you await closer at the stamped date, it really reads "Sell past", "Use past" or "Best before" instead. Exercise they mean the same matter as the expiry date?
No, co-ordinate to Consumer Reports. The sell-by date is to inform retailers when to take the item off the shelves. But it isn't the aforementioned as the decease engagement. Milk, for one, could last five to seven days past its sell-by date before turning sour, said the website.
Use-by dates, on the other hand, are for highly perishable food, said Natalie Goh, Mount Elizabeth Novena Infirmary's principal dietitian. "Information technology tin can be dangerous to eat foods that take passed their use-past dates," she said.
Meanwhile, the best-before date indicates "how long the food will be at its best quality," said Goh. For example, chips may non exist crispy past this date but the lao hong snack may still be edible. But if you accept any dubiety, do not swallow information technology even if the nutrient is within the date, she said.
HOW EXPIRY DATES ARE Determined
"The expiry dates of nutrient products are adamant by a combination of factors, such every bit the types of the ingredients used, the manufacturing process, the type of packaging used, and how the food product is stored," said a spokesperson from the Agri-Food & Veterinarian Authority Of Singapore (AVA).
It can exist dangerous to consume foods that take passed their use-by dates.
Some food companies committee microbial challenge studies, which deliberately introduce harmful micro-organisms such as Listeria moncytogenes into the food that is beingness tested, according to Londa Nwadike, assistant professor of Nutrient Safety, Extension Food Safety Specialist at Academy Of Missouri, Kansas State Academy.
The contaminated food is kept nether atmospheric condition that information technology is likely to encounter during transportation, in storage, in the shop and at home – and tested at diverse lengths of time, wrote Asst Prof Nwadike in her article in The Chat. This helps to determine the signal at which the level of micro-organisms nowadays is also high for safety.
Sometimes, micro-organisms are non added at all, and the test simply monitors the gustatory modality, olfactory property, texture and appearance of the food to determine the longest possible fourth dimension it tin be kept without compromising its quality and safe, wrote Asst Prof Nwadike.
Food companies then remove at least several days from this duration to set the employ-past engagement. Nevertheless, there is no "standard for the length of this rubber margin" and the margin is "prepare at the manufacturer's discretion", noted Asst Prof Nwadike.
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The testing isn't a once-off affair either. According to the HACCP Mentor, food manufacturers should submit their nutrient products for retesting every fourth dimension they introduce new equipment to the manufacturing process, or change the recipe, formulation or even the pack size.
To ensure that the manufacturers – both local and overseas – comply with Singapore's food safety standards and requirements, the AVA "monitors, inspects and samples" the nutrient products. Even so, the onus of setting the decease dates lies with the food manufacturers," said the spokesperson.
EXTENDING FOOD'S SHELF LIFE
Whether it's sardines or orange juice, the aforementioned tricks are generally used to extend the production's life span: Less moisture and/or more acidity, sugar or salt levels. Sometimes, oestrus and preservatives such as benzoates are used, too.
Every bit a effect, the shelf life of foods such as eggs, bread and milk can be extended from days to months, depending on the food, processing and packaging techniques, said Dr Matthew Zhao, packaging technologist with Singapore Polytechnic's Nutrient Innovation And Resource Centre.
Even for food products that are notwithstanding inside the expiry dates, if you lot suspect any spoilage, just discard. Don't risk food poisoning.
Jarred items such equally jam, peanut butter and sauces tin can be extended for months, while juices and stock in tetra packs can concluding from months to years, he said.
That canned food and convenient frozen bites, including fish balls, fish fingers, crab sticks, nuggets and dumplings, which you stash in the freezer for emergencies? They should be good for a couple of years, said Dr Zhao.
WHAT TO THROW OUT, WHAT TO Go on
What if the can of fruit cocktail in your larder has just exceeded its expiry date by a mere few days? Seems like a waste to chuck information technology.
Chances are, y'all can get ahead and dig in as canned foods can yet be eaten a few days later on their expiry date, said Toby Amidor, a nutrition practiced and author of The Easy v-Ingredient Healthy Cookbook. That is provided the can looks fine and you take stored it properly in a cool, dry out, dark identify, he said.
Dairy products such as yoghurt, milk and cheese are generally safe a few days by their sell-by dates, unless you see signs of spoilage, said Amidor. Milk, for case, is drinkable upward to five days past the sell-past date, he said. Cheese, peculiarly the hard varieties, can terminal a lilliputian longer.
READ: Fruits tin be your diet ally or saboteur – depending on how you consume them, say dietitians
Plain, rusty and/or bloated cans as well as anything that has sprouted mould belong in the bin. Other signs to look out for include desperately dented cans; leaking or bulging cans/lids; cracked jars or jars with loose lids, or those that appear to have been opened, said Goh from Mount Elizabeth Novena Infirmary.
But what about food such equally cereals, chips, biscuits and other foods that accept lost their crunch? Is information technology nonetheless ok to swallow them if they are just a little after their expiry dates? The rule of thumb: If the packaging's appearance is different from the norm, or it has an unusual odour after opening, do not swallow its contents.
READ: Singaporeans are not eating enough vegetables – and health experts know why
Still undecided? Yous're ameliorate off skipping food you're not sure of, said Goh. "Even when it comes to food products that are still inside the expiry dates, if you suspect whatever spoilage, simply discard. Don't run a risk food poisoning," she said.
For a second stance on how long a food stays condom to swallow, you lot can check the free app created by the US Department Of Agriculture.
What if you merely realise the food has passed its expiry date after eating it? Wait and see if there are whatsoever symptoms, said Dr Reuben Wong, gastroenterologist from Gleneagles Hospital. These would include diarrhoea, vomiting and/or fever. Yous should seek medical assistance immediately if y'all exercise.
"The body has a defense system in the form of strong acrid in the stomach that will help impale incoming germs. It is believed that taking activated carbon or probiotics might help, but there is no firm evidence that this would prevent food poisoning per se," he said.
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