Food Expiration Dates: What Do They Really Mean?

Thesis: Food safety and freshness are more about storage and instinct than predetermined use by dates.

Appeal of paragraph: Logic

While the "when in doubt, throw it out" approach is affective in most instances, there are times when disregard for sell or use by dates can be risky. In a Swedish Medical Center article, Robin Parnes states that "while it’s true that almost any food can become contaminated if handled improperly, foods that are purchased or used after their expiration dates may be more likely to contain spoilage bacteria or other pathogens that can cause a foodborne illness". Here the idea of expiration dates giving users a frame of reference for quality is reiterrated. While still agreeing that most foods can still be consumed after the date stamp, Parnes warns that even food that has been stored properly can be comprimised with age. To help avoid food poisoning, Parnes gives food storage tips for optimum freshness and lists some tell tale signs of foodborne illnesses. Many symptoms of food poisoning are very similar to those of influenza: fever, headache, vomiting, chills, irregular breathing, and nausea (Parnes). It is particularly important that expiration dates be more closely adhered to by pregnant women, the elderly, young children, and those with compromised immune systems (Parnes). Of course, for this portion of the population, items that seem "off" should be tossed even if not past their time stamp as a cautionary measure.



Swedish.org- Food Expiration Dates: What Do They Really Mean?

Expiration Dates Mean Very Little

Continuing my paper topic research, I have gone to the source article for last week's Talk of the Nation interview. More interesting tidbits on why we should ignore the "sell by" or "use by" date on foods were presented by food critic Nadia Arumugam in her Slate Magazine article. She points out that "food starts to deteriorate from the moment it's harvested, butchered, or processed, but the rate at which it spoils depends less on time than on the conditions under which it's stored" (Slate.com). The article illustrates several criteria for food expiration dates as well as how far past an expiration date a food is still relatively okay for consumption. Her article also notes that the dates printed on food are more about the freshness factor than the safety factor. Arumugam states that "to account for all manner of consumer, manufacturers imagine how the laziest people with the most undesirable kitchens might store and handle their food, then test their products based on these criteria" (Slate.com). She goes on to say that menacing food-born pathogens like E. coli and salmonella are more important to worry about than the freshness and quality concerns of expiration dates. Pathogens like that have less to do with expiration dates and more to do with how food is handled and stored.

I am gathering from this article and last week's NPR interview that it would be wise to invest in a thermometer for my fridge and freezer to create the optimum storage environment for my foods. Reading up on proper food storage and handling guidelines could also prove to be of some use. More importantly, I should continue to employ my mother's good old "your nose knows" tactics when those pesky expiration dates just don't seem right.

Slate.com - Expiration Dates Mean Very Little

Ignore Your Food's Expiration Dates

Feb. 22, 2010- On NPR's Talk of the Nation, host Neal Conan interviewed food writer and critic Nadia Arumugam on a piece she wrote for Slate.com. In the piece she addressed the issue of food expiration dates and their validity. She tells Conan that "food is an organic substance, and nature will tell us when it's not right to eat" (NPR.org). This may seem like common sense, yet most of us tend to keep a close watch on the sell or use by dates printed on food packages. Arumugam says in the interview that "all the dates that are being put on, you know, your biscuits, your cookies, your preserves, they're all being decided upon by manufacturers, purely by manufacturers" (NPR.org). There is no government regulation on this practice. Some governments, New York City for example, have some laws on experation dates for food, but there is no definitive source of regulation for food manufacturers.

This interview struck a cord for me as my mother is queen of having things in the cupboards with expiration dates varying from yesterday to last year. What's more, she consumes these foods without much hesitation. My husband has always made fun of this as he is an expiration date law abider. I mean, he doesn't even like eating leftovers the next day calling the food "moldy". Arumugam's interview confirmed what my third-world-origins-immigrant mom has known out of either instict or pure necessity: trust your senses in determining whether a food is worthy of consumption. I have to say that I'm in between the two ends of this spectrum. I use the dates as a guide more than law. I do have more concern for certain foods, like dairy, keeping it only a few days past the use by date. However, this interview has me rethinking it all and wanting to research this matter further.


NPR.org - Ignore Your Food's Expiration Dates

Why Some Homeowners Hope For Foreclosure

This morning, on NPR's Morning Edition, Alex Blumberg interviewed Mary Kindsley, an attorney who works at a helpline providing legal services for people with real estate questions. They discussed homeowners who deliberately default on their home loans as a strict business decision. Blumberg gives the example that "you buy your house for 400 grand; now, it's worth 200. You might decide to stop paying your mortgage and simply buy another house, similar to the one you already own but for half the price. The old house: the bank can have it". While this is perfectly legal in many states, Blumberg and Kindsley discuss the non-business part of this tactic: the ethical stance that "people should honor their debts and pay them if they're at all able to" (Kindsley).

The point, as Blumberg reitarates is that "from an underwater homeowner's perspective, it's a strict cost benefit analysis. You suffer a blow to your credit score on the one hand, but you get a far cheaper house on the other". I don't see how a bank, in the economic climate we are in, would look at a borrower who has done this well. Sure there is no way for them to know that you purposely defaulted on your loan. But with a damaged credit score due to foreclosure, what bank will lend you money for a new home? As a person who is currently underwater on my home loan, it has taken me close to a year and a half to get a hope of loan modification from my bank. There is still a "trial period" of payments to go through before the bank makes their decision, and then I might get some relief via a modification to my loan. And I have a very good credit score.

For those who have done this, hoped for foreclosure, I say they are smart to have done so and gotten a new cheaper home out of it. They are, however, depreciating the value of the homes around them even further by adding a foreclosed home to the neighborhood. For those who are struggling to stay in the home they don't want to leave, like one of my neighbors, I hope things turn around soon and we all have homes to live in that are somewhat affordable.

NPR.org Why Some Homeowners Hope For Foreclosure

Steve Jobs Introduces the iPad

This week Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, introduced the iPad, the company's newest product. "Its got a 9.7-inch touch screen. Its got a big virtual keyboard. The iPad connects to iTunes. iTunes will now have a bookstore, and the iPad is a lovely color eReader." says NPR's Laura Sydell. Despite the hour and a half unveiling, it has been received with little excitement by analysts. In Sydell's interview, Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey says the consensus is that "iPad had the opportunity to create a completely new consumer device category" but failed to do so.

I had heard rumors of a tablet computer from Mac months ago and was excited to hear Sydell's report. However, I share McQuivey and other analyst's disappointment. The iPad won't actually be out on the market for two more months, but it will be priced at $499 to $829. Additionally, if you want to connect it to the 3G network it will run you another $30. From Sydell's description, the iPad sounds alot like my iPhone, minus the phone and camera. McQuivey makes a similar analysis comparing it to the iPod touch.

If I'm carrying around something several times the size of my phone, I'd like it to do all of the things my phone does. The eReader on the iPad is supposed to be a step up from the iPhone eReader app where a chief complaint is that "the page turning lags" writes Nora Roberts of DearAuthor.com. Even though the iPad has a color eReader on a larger screen, iPad's most interesting feature, this doesn't excite me. Call me old fashioned, but I love my local library. I have thousands of books to choose from, a lovely librarian to help me navigate the stacks, and borrowing a book won't cost me $499 retail.

For the cost, right now my iPhone does all I need: email, text, phone, camera, music player, and countless apps. I am a Mac for life, but hope that, as with the iPhone, time will give it a chance for more innovation and a smaller price tag.

Waiting To See If The Hype Overshadows The iPad

Review: Ereader and Bookshelf App For iPhone