Time to smell the milk?
Greg Henderson, Drovers editor
| Wednesday, July 21, 2010
It’s widely believed that America has the safest food supply in the world. Despite that fact, Americans have grown increasingly nervous about the food they’re offered in stores and restaurants, and that has created some interesting niches for specialty foods such as natural and organic.
We live in a time that has been called the Information Age, and there is a lot of information available about food. Foods are described as healthy, unhealthy, good for the environment and bad for the environment. At times we are encouraged to buy local foods, and even foods from animals that have been treated humanely.
A significant amount of negative press has many of our customers concerned about the use of hormones and antibiotics in livestock production, though most of those consumers don’t understand much about how hormones and antibiotics are used. And many of those same consumers are afraid of foods made with genetically modified crops, those dubbed “frankenfoods” by the media.
So it comes as little surprise that a new study says that 76 percent of American consumers mistakenly believe that certain foods are unsafe to eat after the date printed on the package has passed. That’s right, they don’t even smell their milk when it goes out of date, it’s just poured down the drain!
I’ve argued unsuccessfully in my home that the date on a milk carton is merely a suggestion – a date that serves as a guide. Stored properly, I’ve argued, milk and other foods can last well beyond the date printed on the package. Apparently, a number of scientists agree.
“Food scientists agree that most foods, if stored properly, can be safely consumed for days or even weeks past the package date,” says Joe Regenstein, professor of food science at Cornell University. “The dates on food packages are very conservative; if the product was stored properly, it should last well beyond the date on the package.”
The survey released this week about consumer perceptions about package dates was conducted online by Harris Interactive for ShelfLifeAdvice.com, a Web site that provides shelf-life data on hundreds of food products, plus storage and handling tips that help consumers maximize longevity, safety and freshness of food.
The study asked 2,482 American consumers which, if any, of 10 refrigerated food products were considered unsafe to eat past the printed package date. Almost half of the respondents identified eggs as one of those products.
“Sell-by dates anticipate consumption after the printed date. When eggs are stored in the refrigerator, they should last at least three to five weeks after the sell-by date,” said Regenstein a member of the ShelfLifeAdvice.com Board of Advisors.
The dating on milk was even more misunderstood than eggs, with 61 percent of respondents mistakenly believing the printed date is the final date milk can safely be consumed.
“Generally, milk has no off flavor up to five days after the printed date passes. When off flavors can be detected, the off flavors are produced by [harmless] bacteria, so even this milk could be consumed without making one sick,” explained Clair Hicks, professor of food science at the University of Kentucky and also a member of the ShelfLifeAdvice.com Board of Advisors.
Based on the study, ShelfLifeAdvice.com estimates that if 61 percent of Americans needlessly discard just a quarter-gallon of milk each month, they would be wasting more than $700 million a year. Combining this figure with the other foods in the survey, ShelfLifeAdvice.com estimates that billions are wasted by American households every year.
All of which underscores the fact that American consumers are wealthy enough to be as picky as they want about the food they eat. Further, the same consumers who are environmentally conscious when they are shopping for food products, may not be so environmentally conscious when they get home with that food. For instance, a study funded by USDA and conducted by the University of Arizona found that Americans throw away as much as 40 percent of all the food produced in the U.S. each year – about 29 million tons.
