Maybe it’s a guessing game to determine whether your meals is also tasty. You might have discovered a case of just smeared cheese or a pack of chicken with an expired expiration date while digging around in the fridge. And when those dates do n’t quite make sense to you, or if you’re just too optimistic to believe them, you might have to resort to the quick mold check and sniff-test method. Then there’s trying to decipher labels on food with dates—like the” sell by” and “best before” labels. It turns out that these words have no universal concept, so it’s anyone’s imagine what they actually mean. And these names have contributed to tons of meals waste—literally. According to a 2021 United Nations report, about 17 % of the meal produced worldwide each year gets tossed. That’s about 1.03 billion tons of meals each month! Additionally, according to the Food and Drug Administration, 30 % to 40 % of food in the United States is lost, or 20 pounds of food per person per month, and confusion over food labeling accounts for 20 % of that waste. The state government of California has evidently grown weary of the guessing game and the estimated 6 million tons of meals that are wasted annually in the position. A rules that will make California’s product expiration times clearer was recently passed by the state Senate and Assembly. California’s new legislation is set to take effect in July 2026. It will require a” Best if Used By” label, signaling the product’s peak quality, and” Use By” label for product safety. Exempt from the law are egg, liquor and other malt beverage. What about the rest of us, exactly? If you do n’t live in California, you’ll most likely still have to deal with the outdated labels, though some Californian legislators hope their new law will spur other states or the federal government to do the same. In the meantime, here are a few tips to help clean up some of the dilemma. First, it’s important to know that” sell by” dates on packages have nothing to do with us, as consumers. They’re really for stores, acting as a guide to alert them when to pull the items off their shelves, and they do n’t mean the food is unsafe to consume. And the “use by” day? That refers to value, not security, even though the USDA recommends using merchandise by the “use by” date. If the food has a” sell by” date, as many meats do, it is probably safe to use it for a while after that date. For instance, cuts of beef that are not ground may still be good up to five days past the” sell by” date, and ground meat and poultry may still be acceptable after that date. Eggs can live up to five weeks past the” sell by” date, which extends their life. Certain shelf-stable products, while, like canned beans and bundles of wheat, may be able to get well past the “use by” time, especially if they’ve been properly stored in a cool, dry location. Bottom Line: California just passed a law that will take effect in July 2026 to clarify the dates on food items and ultimately lessen food waste. Ideally, this will motivate other states to follow suit. But in the meantime, understand that the” sell by” date is primarily for the stores. And the “use by” date is n’t necessarily a hard-and-fast rule, since it has more to do with quality than safety, and there may be some wiggle room regarding when a product is still safe to consume. When “use by” and” sell by” dates leave things unclear, a visual inspection and sniff test can come in handy. If it smells rank or rancid or just looks off, do n’t take your chances. Toss it.

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