Stop Tossing Expired Food — This Trick Saves You Money

Most people open the fridge, spot a date on a package that has passed, and toss the whole thing without a second thought. It feels responsible. It feels safe. But according to the EPA, the average American wastes around $728 worth of perfectly edible food every year, and much of it comes down to a misunderstanding of what those dates actually mean.

The Date on the Label Is Not What You Think

Here is the part most people don’t know: the phrases “best by,” “best before,” and “sell by” are not safety dates. They are quality indicators. The USDA is explicit about this: these labels tell you when a product will be at its peak flavor or texture, not when it becomes dangerous to eat.

The only label that carries a genuine safety warning is “use by” on certain perishable items, and even then, the Food Standards Agency clarifies that best before dates are purely about quality, not safety. After that date passes, the food is still safe, just potentially not at its best.

The Trick That Actually Matters

The real tool for knowing whether food is still good is one you already own: your senses. Look at it, smell it, and taste it. Signs of actual spoilage are usually obvious, off odors, visible mold, slimy textures, or a taste that immediately tells you something is wrong. If none of those are present, the food is almost certainly fine.

Research backs this up. A BYU study found that misunderstood food labels account for roughly 20% of all consumer waste in the US, a value of around $29 billion. That is an enormous amount of money leaving households over a label that was never meant to signal danger in the first place.

The Confusion Is by Design

There is no single universal standard for how food companies apply date labels in the United States. A survey found that 73% of Americans believe food label dates indicate safety, when in reality most labels are simply the manufacturer’s estimate of peak quality. That gap between perception and reality is costing households real money every single week.

People who frequently throw away food past its label date waste more than double the amount of food compared to those who rarely do. The habit is expensive and, in most cases, completely unnecessary.

When to Actually Throw It Out

None of this means ignoring food safety entirely. True expiry dates on items like infant formula carry real weight and should always be respected. Meat, fish, and ready-to-eat salads with a “use by” date are also worth taking seriously.

But a bag of coffee, a block of hard cheese, a can of beans, or a box of crackers sitting a week past its “best before” date? The sniff test is perfectly appropriate, and passing it means the food is good to eat.

Learning the difference between a quality date and a safety date is one of the simplest, lowest-effort ways to keep more money in your pocket without changing anything else about the way you shop or cook.