Sustainable Living
Use by vs Best before
I have no problem with swallowing stuff that is past the best before date and (so far) I've never had a single
case of food poisoning.
"Best before" simply means that - the food (according to the manufacturer) tastes best before that date.
You do need to exercise a bit of caution of course - smell, sight, taste; but eating something that is a few
days past its best by date is highly unlikely to kill you if it's been stored properly. I often wonder if the "best
before" date is a ruse from the food industry to have us chucking out more and then buying more.
The "use by" date on the other hand is one you should probably observe more closely. Again, it's not unusual for me to eat items past this date, but I certainly don't do so with milk, meat, egg or dairy products as
it's just too risky.
What to do with food waste
Even being super-careful, you'll still have waste from time to time and there's always unavoidable wastes
such as vegetable peelings. Don't send these to landfill, compost them or get a worm farm - worms love
most kitchen scraps!
Michael Bloch
Green Living Tips.com
Green Living Tips is an online resource powered by renewable energy offering a wide variety of earth
friendly tips, green guides, advice and environment related news to help consumers and business reduce
costs, consumption and environmental impact