[Music]
what the eggs sell by yesterday orange
juice best buy two days ago
yogurt used by last week well now I have
to get rid of all this food if I don't
someone could get sick no you don't best
buy used buy sell buy contrary to
popular belief
none of these dates actually tells you
when food stops being safe to eat
in fact food can still be good way past
the date on the label according to food
safety experts eggs can be eaten three
to five weeks past the sell-by dates
fell by dates all right yo and the USDA
says canned and dried foods can be safe
indefinitely oh I won't go bad for years
and the food isn't handled properly it
can actually go bad before the date on
the label even something as simple as
leaving it out on the counter too long
or setting your fridge at the wrong
temperature can catch shelf-life shorts
so hot in here
I think I'm hunk o and babe Oh at the
end of the day these dates just don't
tell you that much
instead you need to check your food for
signs of spoilage like changes in smell
color or texture oh okay well then this
milk is definitely bad milk you can
still drink me oh yeah milk is a really
neat exception even after its spoils
it's still totally safe to drink oh wait
what stopped me you're gonna get sick
nope milk is pasteurized which means any
harmful bacteria was removed long before
it hit the shelves even though it might
not taste great the safety risk of
drinking spoiled milk are virtually zero
hey I get it I get it but if the date
doesn't say when the food's safe to eat
why does the federal government put it
there
hate to break it to you they don't we
all assume that these labels are some
kind of big government safety regulation
but with the exception of baby food the
federal government actually doesn't
required a labeling of any kinds the
citizens of this great nation have the
inalienable right
each five-year-old mayonnaise if they
want for this is America
instead it's all left up to the states
and every state has their own rules
in fact nine states have no date
labeling regulations at all well who
does put the dates on the food it seems
like they don't tell us anything at all
oh no they do tell you one thing when
the manufacturer thinks their food
tastes the best what here at Hull Co we
use cutting-edge food science to
determine the exact best buy and use by
date at which our food is the most snack
tabulous pretty good pretty good garbage
you mean dated boys but that foods not
dangerous and he just said it still
tasted good not good enough
we need our customers eating our food at
maximum crunchy two-door they might buy
something else and hey if they think
they have to throw it away sooner and
buy more but that's wasting food that's
right Melinda and it's a major problem
Melinda this is Dana gondor's she's a
senior scientist at the Natural
Resources Defense Council and a
co-author of a major 2013 Harvard report
detailing the massive problem with these
dates Americans trash over 160 billion
pounds of perfectly good food every year
roughly 40% of our food supply is thrown
out and these confusing dates are a huge
factor one survey found that 83% of
Americans have prematurely thrown out
food based on the sell-by date but that
date isn't even meant for consumers it
just tells stores want to turn over
their inventory wait sell by today so I
bought this today oh well this is
ridiculous someone should do something
well some leaders in the grocery
industry are pushing for clearer simpler
labels but until there's a nationally
mandated system their recommendations
are just voluntary and the worst part is
we're trashing all this perfectly good
food while millions are going hungry
whoa that one's alive all this has got
to go
hey Adam here if you like that be sure
to watch all new episodes of Adam ruins
everything every Tuesday at 10:00 on
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