“Best Before” Dates Lead to Needless Waste

If you opened up your fridge to find a tub of yogurt with a ‘best before’ date that expired three days ago would you toss it out? Most of us would.

According to CTV news as long as that yogurt had been stored properly since being bought, it would still be good a few days after its Best Before date. The same is true with milk, cheeses and countless other foods.

Even soft drinks often come with “best if used by” dates, though their manufacturers insist there is no danger from drinking the products beyond those dates.

And canned and packaged items don’t need to have a ‘best before’ date at all.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says on its website that you can buy and eat foods after the ‘best before’ date has passed. “However, when this date has passed, the food my lose some of its freshness and flavor, or its texture may have changed.”

Every year, thousands of kilograms of food are needlessly thrown away simply because consumers misunderstand what the ‘best before’ date means.