As someone who worries constantly about food waste, I’ve noticed that I’m also someone who accumulates an awful lot of ‘rescued’ food and out of date products. The recent appearance of a rather unwelcome slithering reptile in my kitchen (hello summer!) prompted a well overdue overhaul of the kitchen detritus – in particular the pantry.
Knowing the difference between best-before and use-by is quite important in these situations, although it will not help you Marie Kondo your pantry, and I warn you may end up with the same affliction I have. In some cases, it’s quite clear what needs to go – weevils (although I have been known to wash these out – don’t tell the kids), mould and visually obvious decay make the decision simple, and Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) clearly states that foods with a use-by date should also be discarded.
“Foods that must be eaten before a certain time for health or safety reasons should be marked with a use-by date. Foods should not be eaten after the use-by date and can’t legally be sold after this date because they may pose a health or safety risk.”
However, best-before is quite open ended, and this is where the hoarding begins. “You can still eat foods for a while after the best-before date as they should be safe but they may have lost some quality. Foods that have a best-before date can legally be sold after that date provided the food is fit for human consumption.”
Finding a number of cans circa 2015 (I must have been stockpiling around this time) and several with no date at all prompted me to contemplate the next paragraph from the FSANZ website: “Foods that have a shelf life of two years or longer, e.g., some canned foods, do not need to be labelled with a best-before date. This is because it is difficult to give the consumer an accurate guide as to how long these foods will keep, as they may retain their quality for many years and are likely to be consumed well before they spoil.”
The ultimate question is thus left to the consumer themselves – and one must ask oneself if the item is likely to be willingly consumed in the next decade, or, as is so often the case, infinitely avoided and left taking up valuable pantry real estate.
In a moment of strength, I said a final goodbye to some single serve plum puddings which fit this description, having survived more than six Christmases and a pandemic intact and untampered despite their open-ended best-before date (they must have arrived in some kind of gift hamper as I would never have bought such a plastic-laden dessert – even at Christmas).
While guilt-ridden at the waste, it seemed a good time to evoke Marie’s mantra – do they bring me joy? No, they did not – and the pantry shelves are clearer for it. The freezers are next on the list…
Helpful websites: Food Standards Australian and New Zealand, Does it go Bad. and FoodBank.
