Staying safe but saving: A guide to food date stamps

The food families throw out has been hitting the headlines recently. According to newspaper reports, Britain is considering scrapping "best-by" date labelling because it is said to be causing billions of pounds worth of food to be thrown away needlessly.
A survey carried out by a supermarket found that 55 per cent of people throw away food that is past its best-before date, despite the fact that it is usually quite safe to eat.
It has been estimated that New Zealanders needlessly throw away $750 million worth of food a year. That's about $450 worth of food per household. In Australia, the figure is even higher at $815 a household.
In reality, while some households are label-conscious, throwing food away before it even passes the deadline date, others are much more pragmatic and frugal. Such families will tend to use their common sense - only throwing out milk once there is a hint it is starting to go sour, bread once it begins to go stale or turn mouldy, and biscuits when they start to go soft.
All food sold in New Zealand must be labelled according to Food Standards Codes. A date stamp indicates the end of a product's shelf life - the period of time that a food can be appropriately stored before it starts to deteriorate. Foods with a shelf life of less than two years are required to show a date stamp.
There are three basic types of food date stamp: use-by dates, best-before dates, and baked-on or baked-for dates.
The use-by date is all about food safety. If a product is past its use-by date, it is generally not fit for human consumption and cannot be legally sold.
There is a fair bit of a debate about whether food that is past its use-by date is still good to eat. The answer depends on the type of food, how far out of date it is, and how it has been stored.
The best-before date is not about food safety - it is about quality. In other words, eating something after its best-before date is not going to make you sick, but the quality of the food may have deteriorated.
According to the website www.lovefoodhatewaste.com, there is one exception to the rule regarding quality and best-before dates - it advises consumers to not eat eggs that have passed their best-before date.
Food can be legally sold after its best-before date if it is fit for consumption. That's why it is not uncommon to find out-of-date best-before items (like chocolate bars) at discounted prices in surplus stores, or on the internet.
Baked-on and baked-for dates apply mainly to breads with a shelf life of less than seven days.
Not all food items need to have a date label. Items with a shelf life of longer than two years, and unpackaged products such as fruit and vegetables, don't need to display a date.
Proper food-storage guidelines should always be followed.
If, while shopping, you find a product with a use-by date that has expired, ask the shopkeeper to remove the item from their shelves. If the item is past its best-by date, ask the retailer to reduce the price and offer a guarantee that it is still of good quality and fit for consumption.
Frank and Muriel Newman are the authors of Living Off the Smell of an Oily Rag in NZ. Readers can submit their oily rag tips online at www.oilyrag.co.nz