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Food expiration dates don’t mean what you think - Carolyn Beans

TED-Ed

5.1M Views . 2023-06-06

Find out what expiration date labels on food actually mean, and discover ways communities and governments can lessen food waste. -- Countries around the world waste huge amounts of food every year: roughly a fifth of food items in the US are tossed because consumers aren’t sure how to interpret expiration labels. But most groceries are still perfectly safe to eat past their expiration dates. If the dates on our food don’t tell us that something’s gone bad, what do they tell us? Carolyn Beans shares how to prevent food waste. Lesson by Carolyn Beans, directed by Anton Bogaty. This video made possible in collaboration with Speed & Scale Learn more about how TED-Ed partnerships work: https://bit.ly/TEDEdPartners A special thanks to Roni Neff who provided information and insights for the development of this video. Support Our Non-Profit Mission ---------------------------------------------- Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreon Check out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop ---------------------------------------------- Connect With Us ---------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletter Follow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebook Find us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitter Peep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram ---------------------------------------------- Keep Learning ---------------------------------------------- View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/food-expiration-dates-don-t-mean-what-you-think-carolyn-beans Dig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/food-expiration-dates-don-t-mean-what-you-think-carolyn-beans#digdeeper Animator's website: https://antonbogaty.com Music: https://www.campstudio.co ---------------------------------------------- Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Khalifa Alhulail, Martin Stephen, Jose Henrique Leopoldo e Silva, Mandeep Singh, Abhijit Kiran Valluri, Morgan Williams, Devin Harris, Pavel Zalevskiy, Karen Goepen-Wee, Filip Dabrowski, Barbara Smalley, Megan Douglas, Tim Leistikow, Ka-Hei Law, Hiroshi Uchiyama, Mark Morris, Misaki Sato, EdoKun, SookKwan Loong, Bev Millar, Lex Azevedo, Michael Aquilina, Jason A Saslow, Yansong Li, Cristóbal Moenne, Dawn Jordan, Prasanth Mathialagan, Samuel Doerle, David Rosario, Dominik Kugelmann - they-them, Siamak Hajizadeh, Ryohky Araya, Mayank Kaul, Christophe Dessalles, Heather Slater, Sandra Tersluisen, Zhexi Shan, Bárbara Nazaré, Andrea Feliz, Victor E Karhel, Sydney Evans, Latora, Noel Situ, emily lam, Sid, Niccolò Frassetto, Mana, I'm here because of Knowledge Fight Facebook group., Linda Freedman and Edgardo Cuellar.

The US is a major contributor to global food waste, with 37% of US food waste coming from individual households. Much of this waste is due to consumers misinterpreting food date labels, throwing away perfectly edible food. Date labels are often misleading and not based on food safety, leading to needless waste.

food waste
date labels
food safety

  • The United States is one of the worst offenders in global food waste, with 37% of food waste coming from individual households.
  • Approximately 20% of food waste from households is due to confusion over date labels, which often don't accurately reflect safety or expiration dates.

Insights from the YouTube Video Text:

1. The Confusing History of Food Date Labels:

  • The video reveals that food date labels are a relatively new phenomenon, originating in the 20th century with the rise of processed foods and supermarkets.
  • Before that, people relied on their senses (sight, smell, touch) to assess food freshness.
  • Date labels were initially meant to track inventory and were only later adopted by consumers for freshness indication.

2. The Misinterpretation of Food Dates:

  • The video highlights that most date labels indicate "best if used by" dates, not "expiration" dates. These labels are often misleading and don't necessarily mean the food is unsafe

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