Don’t be too serious about expired food? You have ignored the shelf life and storage conditions!

□ Shan Shouqing

When people talk about health, wellness, consumption and other topics, it is inevitable to mention food. Especially when mentioning "expired food", some people will disdainfully say "expired food cannot be eaten". Unexpectedly, some people refute: You are too extreme, too one-sided, and too arbitrary.

This kind of scene has happened in markets, supermarkets and homes: someone holds a packaged food and looks through it attentively, even holding it under a light or in front of a window with good visibility, changing the position of the package of different shapes and materials, looking from top to bottom, from front to back, from left to right... What are they looking for? The production date and expiration date on the package.

Although some of the "production date" and "shelf life" are supplemented with prompts such as "see the packaging bag", "see the seal", "see the bottle", and "see the spray code", they sometimes still give people a feeling of "invisibility" and "hide and seek". Some are marked in "corners" and are difficult to find; some fonts are very thin and difficult to recognize; some texts are similar to the background color of the packaging and cannot be seen clearly; some elderly people still can't see clearly even with reading glasses, and can only ask young people for help; some labels are easy to rub off, fall off, and smear, which is not only "difficult to find" or "too difficult to find", but also "impossible to find". All these not only cause inconvenience and confusion to consumers, but also bring hidden dangers to food safety.

In this regard, the Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China, the Product Quality Law of the People's Republic of China, the General Rules for the Labeling of Pre-packaged Foods in the National Food Safety Standard, and other laws and regulations have clear provisions, and the production date, shelf life and other matters on food labels and instructions must be clearly and obviously marked and easy to identify. In order to strictly implement these laws and regulations, deputies to the National People's Congress have made suggestions at the two sessions of the National People's Congress, the Consumer Protection Law Research Association of the Chinese Law Society has called for it, Chinese food industry analysts have made suggestions, and various media have reported... All sectors of society have agreed to further standardize food labels and unify the labeling methods so that consumers, especially more elderly people, can find and see them clearly. Relevant departments have stepped up supervision and inspection efforts to guide and urge food companies to operate in good faith and abide by the law, and to label food date information in accordance with laws and regulations.

People are happy to see that the labeling of food "production date" and "shelf life" has become more and more standardized, which plays an important role in identifying "expired food".

When talking about expired food, some people are "serious": Can food still be eaten if it is one day past its expiration date?

Experts working in food, nutrition, and medicine encourage such "serious" inquiries. In response to the confusion and hesitation about whether food can still be eaten safely after it expires, they carry out scientific popularization in a timely and accurate manner: the shelf life of food refers to the time that food can maintain its quality and safety under specific conditions. The significance of the shelf life of food is to set a "safe consumption" period for consumers, that is, the best consumption date, telling you when it can be eaten and when it tastes good. In theory, food that has exceeded its shelf life should not be eaten, but this is not absolute. Food that has exceeded its shelf life does not mean that it is definitely unsafe. Within the "shelf life", the quality and taste of the food are the best, but it does not mean that the food cannot be eaten after this date.

In other words, expiration does not mean spoilage, nor does it mean that it does not meet food safety standards. As long as the food storage conditions meet the standards, the packaging is intact, and the color, aroma and taste have not changed, it can be eaten even if the shelf life has passed.

There are many topics about expired food. For example, if leftovers are not marked with "production date" or "shelf life", you must be careful when eating them. Chinese medicine also has a shelf life, and Chinese medicine added to meals under the guidance of the "medicine and food have the same origin" theory must also be used with caution. Food poisoning caused by expired food is not only "biological" poisoning caused by eating food contaminated by bacteria, viruses, parasites, etc., but also "chemical" poisoning caused by eating excessive amounts of preservatives and other food additives.

In addition, the shelf life of food is not just a date, but is composed of two inseparable elements: the deadline and the storage conditions. If the storage conditions do not meet the requirements of room temperature, refrigeration, and light avoidance, the shelf life of the food is likely to be shortened or even lose its safety guarantee. Some media have published an article titled "How can the handling of expired food be out of control?" Some experts believe that chopsticks also have a shelf life, and wooden chopsticks that deal with food should be replaced after six months of use.

The topic of expired food is worth mentioning. It can be widely publicized through popular science lectures, "popular science" short videos, etc., so that people can correctly understand and deal with expired food.

(The author is the chairman of the Food Science Creation Professional Committee of the China Science Writers Association and a master of Chinese catering culture)