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California bans sell-by dates

foodandwine.com

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Re: California bans sell-by dates

#281

Post by anon84873628 »

torgoguys wrote: post #67

> To adhere with the requisite language outlined, any food products with a date label — with the exception of infant formula, eggs, beer, and malt beverages — must state “Best if Used By” to indicate peak quality, and “Use By” to designate food safety. Infant formula is required federally, so OK. Eggs are an oddly specific one, but I guess I can see it (although I'd wonder why some other products like milk, or meat m…

I just assumed it was due to better lobbying by the egg and beer industries ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Re: California bans sell-by dates

#282

Post by anon84873628 »

ggreer wrote: post #113

This article claims that 12 million tons of food are wasted in California annually, and that this law will save 70,000 tons of food from going to waste. California's population is 39 million. Does that mean that every Californian is wasting a pound of food every day? That seems suspiciously high to me. I'm curious how they came up with those numbers. I think this law is like plastic straw bans, or mandated bag fees,…

The results of plastic bag & straw bans seem quite good to me.

Re: California bans sell-by dates

#283

Post by anon84873628 »

Thuggery wrote: post #141

Sensible change. But I wonder if it will encourage retailers to treat the secondary now more food safety related "use by" date as the real "best if used by" date. If you're like me and slightly paranoid about food expiration dates and sometimes checks things in corner stores, you might notice they like to sell items that can be razor thin on the "sell by" date.

That's exactly the problem attempting to be solved. There should be no problem with a retailer selling a product up to the sell by date, but you are still not keen to buy it because we don't know how much longer after that we have.

Instead you will be able to decide how close you want to cut it to either date.

Re: California bans sell-by dates

#284

Post by anon84873628 »

zargon wrote: post #205
slenk wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Food can sit around before being packed. I don't think packed on is any more useful in 99% of situations

The "best by" period is arbitrary, so a packed on date removes ambiguity that varies from producer to producer.

Why is the "best by" period arbitrary? That is based on an interval after the actual production time.

"Packed on" only helps if you have some understanding of how long that product will stay good for.

Re: California bans sell-by dates

#285

Post by anon84873628 »

kaikai wrote: post #223
giardini wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

kaikai says "It’s wild what people will do in order to keep people from getting something they don’t “deserve,” even when it’s literal trash." But you haven't "stood in the other man's shoes" and seen it from his/her perspective. Businesses are strictly regulated. They are required by law to dispose of certain old/damaged/discarded foodstuff and are not allowed to sell it for human consumption. Likely a second compan…

I have seen it from their perspective, I’m not an idiot. I’m fully capable of seeing and understanding another persons perspective, and disagreeing with it. I reject the idea that allowing people to go hungry when there is a EXCESS of food available is a morally correct choice. Laws are rules created by people and we have the ability to change them. At the very least, we have the ability and moral responsibility to i…

Well, at least you understand the rules and are willing to accept the consequences.

The reason they are enforced is because of game theory. There are plenty of things that are not a big deal if only one or two people do it. However, if large numbers of people do it then the system breaks down for everyone.

One hopes for some individual discretion at the margins, and the TJ's manager probably went overboard. However the morality is not so obvious when one has to consider higher order effects. (Though I also realize you would like the entire system to function differently anyway, which is a fair point as well).

Re: California bans sell-by dates

#286

Post by teddyh »

Dalewyn wrote: post #250
teddyh wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is minified code easier to read? No. It’s the same with regular language; shorter sentences are not always more comprehensible.

The likelihood an American will read something decreases with each word written. Seriously: We hate reading. The fewer words the better.

Maybe, but if increased concision also decreases comprehension, there is a balance to be struck, not just a value to optimize.

Re: California bans sell-by dates

#287

Post by _wbrb »

AbortedLaunch wrote: post #275
darajava wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have never ever seen this in any European country.

I see this regularly in the Netherlands, sometimes even with a feather attached.

I’ve seen feathers but not poo except maybe on the rarest of instances.

Re: California bans sell-by dates

#288

Post by noduerme »

xp84 wrote: post #252
tiffanyh wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As she had it in the oven ... Cooking food typically kills off any bacteria.

This isn't an argument that you should turn into a 'throw away food after the best by date' person or anything, but it's important to understand one key point: Suppose you have a piece of meat out on the counter for 12 hours. Then you put it in the oven and broil the heck out of it (say the whole thing gets to 190°F and zero of the bacteria in it survive). Is it hazardous? Yes, it can be hazardous, because the compou…

This is true. The toxins left behind by bacteria or fungi can be worse than ingesting a live culture. And they don't break down by cooking at normal temperatures. I think the only reason 5-year-old industrial mayo is ok is the preservatives. Fresh mayo can kill you after 24 hours unrefrigerated, whether you cook it later or not. Source: Worked in restaurants.
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