12 ingredients that last longer than you think

Did you know that an average Swedish family with children throws away food worth between 50€ and 100€ every month? One of the main reasons is that they think the food is no longer suitable to eat since the “best before”, “sell by”, “enjoy by” or expiration date has passed.

The EU is now considering dismantling the “best before” date labeling for certain food items. Currently the “best before” date is determined by the food manufacturer and they are reluctant to push the date forward to something that is more aligned with the reality. One of the reasons is that we, as consumers, consider products with longer dates as “unfresh”.

Another reason is that a shorter date will result in more products sold due to more products thrown away by the grocery stores or by us, consumers. There is a lot we, as consumers, can do to reduce this unnecessary food waste and at the same time, save money. For example having knowledge of what is safe to eat and how to know when it is really time to throw food away.

I have always considered myself and my family very good at not wasting food and using up all the food we have, but I was still impressed to find out about these 12 simple facts.

Check out how long these 12 ingredients actually last. All you need to know is listed here: 

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Another 3 ingredients:

Chocolate:

There’s almost no water in chocolate, and there’s sugar that conserves it. If your chocolate gets a whitish surface it is nothing dangerous, it is just a sign that it is not fresh anymore

Canned food:

In case the canned food is kept unopened and undamaged, it can last for several years. In case it did turn bad then you will know by smelling it.

Butter:

Since there’s hardly no water in butter it is hard for bacteria to grow. However if the butter is kept outside of the fridge and in contact with air a lot, then it will turn rancid easier.

 

Here’s a site called “Eat by date” where you can find more detailed information on a lot of other ingredients

Read our blog post on “5 ways to reduce your food waste”

Sources: Mats Lindblad, microbiologist at the Swedish National Food Administration (Livsmedelsverket) and Karin Ahlborg, journalist at Aftonbladet (Swedish newspaper)