Keeping it Fresh

Expiration Dates

In the United States, about 40 states require dates on some perishable food, but there’s no standardized system for expiration dates. That means that in many cases, food is totally safe to consume after the date on the packaging.

The dates also mean various things:

• Best By: This is about quality assurance. It’s a suggestion and not a safety recommendation.
• Use By: This is a recommendation, too, not a safety guarantee, and foods can be eaten after this date (except infant formula, which is federally regulated and should never be used after the use-by date).
• Sell By: This one is for stores to refer to when they stock an item. The Institute of Food Technologists estimates that one-third of a product’s shelf life remains by the sell-by date.
• Freeze By: The USDA says that the item should be frozen by then to retain its best quality. It isn’t a safety date, either.

In general, you can eat any food product that still seems fresh. The best way to tell that something has gone bad is if it has an odd odor, texture, or flavor.

Leftover Life

The USDA says that most leftovers last three to four days. Dishes with uncooked ingredients, like mayonnaise, will spoil faster. When storing the food in the fridge, make sure that it’s fully sealed to keep out bacteria, so a Ziploc bag around your 9×13 might help the chicken keep for longer.

Your leftovers shouldn’t sit out for more than two hours (and only an hour in temperatures over 90°F). The longer they sit at room temperature, the higher chance there is for contamination. You can put warm food straight into the fridge, but if it’s something that’ll take many hours to fully cool off, then you should split it into containers to speed up the process.