not too long ago i was faced with trying to process/re-acquanit myself with all of the food in my pantry.  this happens every few years or so and is often driven by the discovery of some pretty old expiration dates by myself or even worse, a friend.i can ramble on about the reasons behind how this happens (e.g., never home, live alone, do not cook often) but upon bringing up this issue on Facebook i learned that i am not alone.

many many of us ignore expiration dates and we are all still alive!  this was thrilling news – but maybe a bit unsettling for those of you who i cook for if you are not of this mindset.

recently, a friend’s dad shared an article about the creation of a gelatin label that could help limit waste by more accurately determining when the food has actually spoiled/gone bad.  here are some highlights from Adele Peters’ article:

“The next time you start to toss an “expired” carton of milk, consider this: Dates on packages don’t actually have anything to do with food safety or FDA regulations. Instead, the dates are a somewhat arbitrary indication of when a manufacturer thinks food might be freshest, and most food will likely be fine for days or weeks afterward.