Foods You Are Probably Throwing Away Too Early

If you keep eggs refrigerated, they are still fresh three to five weeks after you buy them.asifferlin

According to the Food Marketing Institute and Cornell University's <a title="Foodkeeper" href="http://www.fmi.org/consumer/foodkeeper/" target="_blank">Foodkeeper</a> storage guide, canned food is still fresh for a year after sitting in your pantry. That's also what the expiration date will likely say. Some argue that canned food will be fine even after that date, and that canned goods, because they are vacuum sealed to prevent bacterial contamination, don't need food dating at all. "People have re-open canned goods from l20 years ago and they are fine. Cans that have a date that say a year from now—you could probably have it two years, three years, five years and it will be okay," says Emily Broad Leib, the director of Harvard Food Law & Policy Clinic.asifferlin

Apples have a pretty long shelf-life if they're kept in the fridge. An apple will stay crisp and fresh for three weeks if refrigerated and if they are cooked and then frozen, they will stay just as tasty for eight months.asifferlin

Ready-to-eat breakfast cereal can last in your pantry without going stale for six to 12 months. "Cereals don’t really go bad. There is not that much of a quality issue. If you leave your cereal box open, it can get stale, but you are still not going to get sick from it," says Emily Broad Leib, the director of Harvard Food Law & Policy Clinic. Dr. Ted Labuza, a professor of food science and engineering at the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota, and one of the NRDC and Harvard study's co-authors, studies the shelf-life of foods, and says that manufacturers are eager to list a "best by" date so that consumers will have the best experience with their product. That's because studies show that about 15% of the people who don't have a pleasant eating experience won't try that product again for two to three years.asifferlin

Reading 'sell by' and 'packed on' dates for meat can be a little more confusing. For instance, it's recommended that you eat lunch meats three to five says after you buy them. But many people forget that freezing food keeps it fresh and nutrient-filled for much longer. If frozen, deli meat last for up to two months, and beef stew meat can be used after nine months in the freezer. The USDA acknowledges that people throw out their food too early, and suggests freezing as a way to reduce waste. On the agency's blog, health officials <a title="they write" href="http://blogs.usda.gov/2013/06/27/before-you-toss-food-wait-check-it-out/" target="_blank">write</a>: "Food poisoning bacteria does not grow in the freezer, so no matter how long a food is frozen, it is safe to eat. Foods that have been in the freezer for months may be dry, or may not taste as good, but they will be safe to eat. So if you find a package of ground beef that has been in the freezer more than a few months, don’t throw it out. Use it to make chili or tacos. The seasonings and additional ingredients can make up for loss of flavor."asifferlin

A new report co-authored by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Harvard Law School’s Food Law and Policy Clinic shows that confusion over expiration dates on food leads more than 90% of Americans to throw out food prematurely, so 40% of the U.S. food supply ends up in the garbage — unused — every year. People mistakenly believe that expiration dates are about food safety when they are simply dates manufacturers use to gauge their products' freshness. Most of the time, you can still eat food past its "best by" date without even noticing a change in taste or quality — that's especially true of foods that do not need to be refrigerated. (MORE:<a title="Is Your Food Expired? Don’t Be So Quick to Toss It" href="http://healthland.time.com/2013/09/18/is-your-food-expired-dont-be-so-quick-to-toss-it/" target="_blank"> </a><a title="Is Your Food Expired? Don’t Be So Quick to Toss It" href="http://healthland.time.com/2013/09/18/is-your-food-expired-dont-be-so-quick-to-toss-it/" target="_blank">Is Your Food Expired? Don’t Be So Quick to Toss It</a>) "We have become so divorced from production of food and farming that we think food is only going to be fresh for a short amount of time, and we don’t blink an eye when we take something home and the date happens and two days later we throw it away," says study co-author Emily Broad Leib, the director of Harvard's Food Law and Policy Clinic. Jena Roberts, vice president for business development at the food-testing firm National Food Lab, researches how “shelf-stable” foods are for manufacturers to help them determine what date they want to use to indicate when their product is at its best. "You might eat a granola bar a year after its date and think it still tastes fine. You don't have the perspective. When we do testing, we have perspective because we are always comparing against a fresh product," she says. But just because a food — especially one that is packaged — is past its date, it doesn't mean it will make you sick or even taste bad. See which foods have a shelf life that might surprise you. Read our report coverage <a title="here" href="http://healthland.time.com/2013/09/18/is-your-food-expired-dont-be-so-quick-to-toss-it/" target="_blank">here</a>.asifferlin

Foods You Are Probably Throwing Away Too Early

Eggs

Canned Food

Apples

Cereal

Meat

What to Know Before You Toss

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