It includes storage timelines, cooking tips, and access to USDA’s “Ask Karen” feature. Fikes, FMI and Cornell University recently worked with the Department of Agriculture to broaden their brochure about keeping food safe into a mobile app called FoodKeeper. While FMI wouldn’t make a blanket statement that date labels have nothing to do with food safety, they’re more about quality. “They put an expiration date on that to let you know when the nutrients may have diminished to the point where it may not be sustainable for the infant.” Once a food product does pass its “best-by” date, Fikes says “it doesn’t mean it’s diminished or unsafe if you eat it beyond the date,” although the information does carry a little more weight for dairy and deli products. “Babies rely on all the nutrients present in the formula,” Fikes says. You’ll only see an “expiration date” on infant formula because it’s required by law, but not on other foods. “While it’s OK for the consumer to see that date, it’s really more for stocking purposes,” he says. A “sell-by” date is geared toward the retailer. A “best-by” or “use-by” date is guidance for consumers to get the best experience of the product, says David Fikes, vice president of Consumer/Community Affairs and Communications for the Food Marketing Institute. All the date labels come from the manufacturer and are aimed at different audiences. The key takeaway is that a “best-by” or “sell-by” date is not an expiration date and doesn’t necessarily mean that the safety of the food product declines after that date. With food waste and ugly food making headlines again in recent weeks, we wanted to give you a reminder of what food date labels actually mean.
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