Food Waste & How to Avoid It
Throwing away food gone bad is essentially tossing money in the trash – it’s a waste! While it’s never a good idea to risk eating expired food, there are a lot of practical ways to prevent food waste in your home. Here are a few tips for saving food for your tummy instead of the garbage.
Understand Expiration Dates
In the U.S. there is not one uniform way to describe quality dates on food packages. However, there are a handful of commonly used terms that are helpful to understand.
Best if Used By/Before: indicates peak freshness of food. Not an indication of food safety.
Sell-By: an indication the store uses for inventory. Not an indication of food safety.
Use-By: the last date for using a product for peak quality. Not an indication of food safety (unless it is infant formula).
Freeze-By: indicates when the product should be stored in the freezer to preserve its peak quality. Not an indication of safety.
Closed Dating (041223 = Apr 12, 2023): codes on many shelf stable products that indicate date of production. Not an indication of safety.
Interestingly, product dating is not required by federal regulations. However, many of these dating terms are confusing to consumers, and food products are often thrown out preemptively.
Instead of relying on these quality dates, using other cues, such as changes in texture, smell, color and taste can be the best indicator of food expiration. Here are some general rules to apply regarding food perishability:
Eggs: 3-5 weeks refrigerated
Yogurt: 1-2 weeks refrigerated
Cuts of Red Meat: 3-5 days refrigerated
Ground Red Meats: 1-2 days refrigerated
Raw Poultry: 1-2 days refrigerated
Canned Goods: 2 -5 years, as long as there are no dents, rusting, or swelling of the can
Salad Dressings: months - over 1 year refrigerated, especially those with narrower openings to prevent air entry
Milk: some say milk stays good for over 1 week past its “expiration date”, which is really the date at which bacteria begin to naturally break-down lactose. Ultra-High Temperature (UHT) pasteurization seems to make milk last even longer, and this method is typically used for organic milks.
Leftovers: generally safe for 4 days in the refrigerator. If they won’t be eaten within 4 days, freeze leftovers and thaw for use at a later date.
Choose Frozen over Fresh
Do you find yourself ambitiously purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables at the grocery store only to throw out the slimy cucumbers and molded berries a week or so later? Produce is expensive! This is one excuse some people make for not eating enough fruits and vegetables – they feel they don’t get to them in time and end up throwing them out.
Instead, choose frozen produce rather than fresh! Frozen fruits and vegetables are chilled at their peak ripeness, so they often are more nutrient-dense than many of their fresh counterparts. Additionally, exact quantities of frozen fruits and vegetables can be thawed or cooked while the rest stays preserved in the freezer. Frozen berries, spinach, broccoli, carrots, peas, mangos, pineapple and bananas are just some of the options to choose from.
Repurpose Foods
Getting creative with leftovers can be both delicious and a money saver. You don’t have to be a top chef to repurpose foods in yummy ways. Some go-to options for repurposing foods include soups, rice bowls, tacos, quesadillas, and pasta salads. Here are some examples:
Toss unused vegetables in a brothy soup with seasonings and cook until tender and flavorful
Turn leftover proteins (chicken, beef, pork) into tacos with toppings (i.e., guacamole!) or cheese quesadillas
Create a “rice bowl” by placing leftovers on top of a bowl of rice, such as chicken, sweet potato, roasted broccoli, shrimp, beans, pickled cucumber, roasted carrots, bell peppers, steak, asparagus, etc. Add sauces such as salsa, tamari, sriracha, peanut sauce, miso sauce, or yogurt sauce / tzatziki.
Chop unused veggies and toss them in a pasta salad with small mozzarella balls and Italian dressing.
These are just a few tips and tricks to keeping money in your pocket and food in your belly. If you would like to learn more about how to get the most out of your groceries and extend your creativity in the kitchen, consider working with me. Schedule a FREE discovery call here.