Best Before Date - © sustainableamerica.org

New Store Sells ‘Expired’ Food…

We’ve already looked at the new drive by certain socially-responsible organizations to save ‘ugly food’ from the the scrap heap and feed the hungry. Now, it’s time to spotlight a campaign to get ‘expired’ foods back on the shelf. The key is understanding exactly what ‘expired’ means…

Wasted Food - © foodnavigator.comJust a small fraction of a percentage point of the billions of pounds of food
we trash
needlessly every year…

We all know that most packaged foods carry a ‘best before’ date. This is not the same as an ‘expiry’ date. And it doesn’t necessarily mean the food is spoiled or unwholesome when that date comes around. What it means is, the product – whether Cookies or Steak – is ‘best if consumed by’ that date – freshest. Supermarkets customarily remove products past their ‘best before’ date from their shelves and toss them. What a waste!

But something is being done…

Even as safety conscious an organization as Consumer Reports says expired food is not necessarily unsafe to eat. It’s really up to you to decide if you want to use, and how you intend to use it. The question is – would you buy it if it was offered at a suitable discount?

A new supermarket in Denmark called WeFood opened last week selling only expired food. That includes Cold Cuts, ‘fresh’ Meats, Fruits and Veggies and all sorts of canned, jarred, bagged and boxed products. And it’s not alone.

And, yet…

The success of the whole ‘expired food’ movement depends not on entrepreneurs gathering the food and offering it for sale. It will rely on consumers changing their attitudes toward less than perfect food – both ‘expired’ and ‘ugly’. It’s time for us all to trash our traditional notions what’s good and wholesome in favour of a mindset that’s less wasteful and less expensive!

~ Maggie J.