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Steak, eggs, canned soup — all kinds of fridge and pantry staples have a all-time before date on the packaging.People frequently confuse best earlier dates with expiration dates, but the two labels tell consumers very unlike things.

"It's confusing," says Ellie Topp, a professional home economist. "[The best before] date has nothing to practise with the safety of the food. It has everything to practice with the sense of taste of the nutrient."

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Here are five things you lot may non know well-nigh expiration and best before dates.

1. Only 5 types of products have expiration dates

Expiration dates tell consumers the last day a product is safe to consume. A food should never exist consumed after the expiry engagement.

The Canadian Food Inspection Bureau mandates that only five types of products need to exist labelled with an expiration date:

• Baby formula and other human milk substitutes.
• Nutritional supplements.
• Repast replacements.
• Pharmacist-sold foods for very low-energy diets.
• Formulated liquid diets.

Best before dates are establish on foods that will only stay fresh for xc days or less. Some foods may exist consumed fifty-fifty if their best before date has passed, dissimilar an decease engagement.

2. Best earlier dates guarantee freshness

An unopened, properly stored product'southward all-time earlier appointment tells a consumer how long that food will continue its flavour and nutritional value.Information technology doesn't have annihilation to practice with a food'due south safe, says Topp.

A farm-fresh egg will stay together in 'a nice, footling parcel' when someone tries to fry or poach it. An egg by its best before date is more likely to spread or have the yolk break.

"[With some products] the gustation may accept greatly deteriorated, merely information technology's still safe to consume," she says.

If someone fries or poaches a fresh egg, she says, information technology will stay together in "a overnice, little bundle." If they use an egg beyond its all-time earlier appointment, it will spread out more than and the yolk may exist more probable to break.

"Simply, in that location'due south nada incorrect with the egg," she says, "as long equally information technology's non croaky."

The manufacturer'south nutritional claims may no longer apply after a best before engagement or if the product isn't properly stored, says CathyParoschy Harris, a dietitian and spokeswoman for Dietitians of Canada. Orange juice may not provide as much Vitamin C and milk less riboflavin past the best earlier date.

Other items may have compromised taste, but still be safe to consume. Ketchups and salsas may be more acidic, dry pasta may break when cooked, and cookies at the back of the pantry may just taste bad. It's more often than not the taste, non safety that suffers.

However, foods must be properly stored co-ordinate to packet instructions to avoid turning mouldy or sour before their best before date.

iii. Opened packages negate best before engagement

The best before date no longer applies if a package is opened or if the food is frozen, co-ordinate to Health Canada.

Once a sealed product is exposed to air it tin be cross-contaminated, says Brenda Watson, the Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education's executive director.

The organization has a chart for how long unlike foods tin be kept in a fridge or freezer.Watson recommends people buy food with a short fridge life, like opened milk or cottage cheese, in quantities they're likely to consume speedily .

If a food is properly frozen 2 days earlier its best before date, says Paroschy Harris, information technology should exist edible for another ii days at the first of the thawing process.

4. Some foods to keep an eye out for

Even though some food remains edible — just less tasty and nutritionally dense — after its all-time before date, that doesn't mean all nutrient is safe to eat when that engagement passes. Wellness Canada does not recommend eating annihilation after the best earlier appointment. The Canada Food Inspection Agency is more lenient.

When in doubt throw it out. — Ellie Topp, professional habitation economist

Generally, if the food changes colour or appearance, or develops a bad smell, it is no longer safety to eat. Dented, leaking or bulging cans should exist discarded.

"When in doubt throw it out," saysTopp.

She's most cautious about cured meats, saying she would only keep deli meats, like distortion, a few days afterward purchase.

Hungry snackers should throw away mouldy cheese, breads, yogurts and other foods.Topp says people used to feel comfortable scraping mould off the top of food and continuing to consume information technology. Present, that'south non considered acceptable, every bit mould is believed to contaminate nutrient beyond what's visible to the human eye, she says.

Once a sealed food product has been opened, the all-time before engagement can no longer be relied on, and consumers need to use their own judgment. When in uncertainty, throw it out. (iStock)

​Healthy people are unlikely to endure any consequences if they fry up a steak one day past its best before date. But people shouldn't toy with the best before date on foods that contain lots of pathogens, says Paroschy Harris. That includes whole, fresh meats — like craven, steak or ground beef — and dairy.

"It'southward like playing roulette," she says. "You're putting yourself at risk."

A best before date and proper food handling go mitt-in-hand, she says, and even lower-run a risk foods can become problematic if non handled properly.

Chips by their best before appointment won't be as crunchy, simply they also may go contaminated if people sharing them have muddy hands or double dip in the salsa basin.

"There'due south always a risk for something in food to go amiss," she says.

5. Frozen veggies may be fresher in wintertime

Fresh doesn't ever mean better.

Topp points out that fresh produce plant in Canadian grocery stores during the winter may accept less nutritional value than frozen vegetables.

It takes several weeks for produce to exist picked and transported from warmer climates. As soon as someone picks a vegetable, its nutrients commencement to decline, she says.

Frozen vegetables, even so, are usually frozen inside hours of beingness picked. It's non a significant nutritional departure, she says, but frozen veggies may be more nutritious in the winter.

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Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/best-before-dates-and-expiry-dates-5-things-you-may-not-know-1.3006858

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