Expiration dates. Really?
I was listening to an NPR program, Talk of the Nation, maybe, or maybe Science Friday, I forget. I believe it was Ira doing an interview of Nadia Arumugam. I was going to bash her for some of the seeming-nonsense that I heard on the show, but I took a moment to google her article and find that it is reasonably well written, and I will assume that she just writes MUCH better than she interviews. While she made some half-points on the show, she elucidated in the article. It's here if you're interested.
Apparently her whole story is centered around why we shouldn't pay any attention to expiration dates. The heat of the meat is in a lonely sentance tucked safely away in the middle of the article, and is something that I explain to folks all the time at the grocery store. Expiration dates are a measure of quality rather than safety. Food can be safe after an expiration date, and unsafe long before. That being said, advising people to ignore expiration dates because SHE doesn't find them to be legitimate ignores the folks that yearn for utmost quality, top of the shelf style. I meet these people on a daily basis, and you know who they are. They are the people in front of you at the deli counter order a quarter-pound of this turkey, three slices of that ham. And I see most of them three to five times a WEEK. Fortunately, I think we can safely say that Ms. Arumugam wasn't directing her article towards those folks.
While I might take contention with minor technicalities of argument, such as beans shriveling, indicating they were less nutritious versus beans shriveling because they were less hydrated, which often coincides with vitamin decay, I agree with the spirit of her piece entirely. Granted, with 4 children in the house, I can't even remember the last time I bothered checking expiration dates, never mind paying them any heed.
Having worked in the food service industry since I was 13, and managed in said indusry for more than a decade of that time, I have some tips that will help keep your food safe to eat, and maybe even a little fresher. I'll start posting them tomorrow.
Apparently her whole story is centered around why we shouldn't pay any attention to expiration dates. The heat of the meat is in a lonely sentance tucked safely away in the middle of the article, and is something that I explain to folks all the time at the grocery store. Expiration dates are a measure of quality rather than safety. Food can be safe after an expiration date, and unsafe long before. That being said, advising people to ignore expiration dates because SHE doesn't find them to be legitimate ignores the folks that yearn for utmost quality, top of the shelf style. I meet these people on a daily basis, and you know who they are. They are the people in front of you at the deli counter order a quarter-pound of this turkey, three slices of that ham. And I see most of them three to five times a WEEK. Fortunately, I think we can safely say that Ms. Arumugam wasn't directing her article towards those folks.
While I might take contention with minor technicalities of argument, such as beans shriveling, indicating they were less nutritious versus beans shriveling because they were less hydrated, which often coincides with vitamin decay, I agree with the spirit of her piece entirely. Granted, with 4 children in the house, I can't even remember the last time I bothered checking expiration dates, never mind paying them any heed.
Having worked in the food service industry since I was 13, and managed in said indusry for more than a decade of that time, I have some tips that will help keep your food safe to eat, and maybe even a little fresher. I'll start posting them tomorrow.
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