Best By and Use By Dates Plus “Upcycling Food”

REVISED: My friend Emmanual Voiissard brought up the valid point re Best By dates reflecting “when food it at its peak” and after that date the flavor, texture, etc. begins to deteriorate. That is true in some cases and the consumer needs to determine “wholesomeness”. However, case in point for my POV: I have one cheese producer who gives the same amount of days on EVERY style of cheese from production: 30 days. Makes no sense to me.

Every “expert” has a “thing” where they “plant their flag”. My Cheese Friend Molly’s is “Vegetarian-Suitable” Cheeses (believing that cheese made from mammal milk is NOT vegetarian-suitable). Mine is “Use By” and “Best By” dates on food.

When I bring up this subject in food discussions, the casual and/or cynical consumer believes these dates are used to sell more food. I believe, and I may be wrong, the dates are designed to protect food producers and retailers from lawsuits in the unlikely event someone becomes ill from eating food that might have been subjected to “time and temperature abuse.”

Did you know that our FDA (Federal Department of Agriculture) requires few foods to be dated: only eggs, raw meat, raw chicken, fish and others that might have harmful microbiological growth issues? The FDA Food Act and Food Safety Modernization Act state that food products sold in the US must be “wholesome”. That opens the door to a wide interpretation of that word… enter “Use By” and “Best By” dates… which means… enter the attorneys. (William Shakespeare had the right idea, IMO.)

Maybe policies have changed (since I left corporate retail and I certainly hope so); but I witnessed good “wholesome” food being thrown away daily because of past dates. Cheese and most other food do not “die” when a date comes and goes. I once threw out a whole, uncut wheel of Rembrandt because it had been dated instore and then “lost” in the cooler. I begged my boss to let me buy it at discount. She could not because of company policy. I was tempted to dig through the dumpster and take it but the other un-wholesome food (and who knows what else) dissuaded me…

A few years ago, Tim Young (Nature’s Harmony Cheese, now defunct) wrote an article about this subject and cited a German experiment that compared a jar of green beans, properly canned 40+ years ago with similar beans canned the previous year. When opened and tasted, there was no difference in taste, texture or food safety. (These days, Tim advocates small farming, preparedness and survival. He has published 8 books on these subjects which you can purchase in my Amazon Influencer Storefront.)

I have a can of WSU’s Award-winning Cougar Gold sitting in my refrigerator. I purchased it in 2015 and plan to not open it until 2025. In 2010, WSU cracked open a can of CG that was 23 years old. It was sublime.

Have you heard of “Upcycling Food”? I recently visited Farm2Me website and noticed a menu icon for “Upcycled Products”. The explanation of upcycling left me with many questions. On first blush, it sounded sketchy but when I did some research, I discovered I’ve been “Upcycling” food most of my adult life. As did my mother and my grandmothers…

Upcycling is the process of using food (or just about anything) which in its present form is no longer useable and turning it into something useable. A few examples of Upcycling that I practice here at The Manse:

• Over-ripe bananas become banana bread.
• Coffee grinds become an insect repellent in my vegetable and herb garden.
• Egg shells become a calcium supplement in my vegetable and herb garden.
• Parmigiano Reggiano rinds become flavoring in soups, pasta sauces.
• Chicken bones and skins added to water become stock.
• Past-dated cheeses, I can no longer sell, become Mac n Cheese, Alfredo/Cheese Sauces, Grilled Cheeses, Pimento Cheese, Dips and Dressings – in most cases, cheese becomes better as it ages.
• Fresh herbs and ripe seasonal fruits are dehydrated and frozen.
• Worn towels become cleaning rags.

Food Producers upcycle to protect their profit margin. Consumers want “pretty” food. Here are some examples of commercial upcycling:

• Bruised fruit can be used to make dehydrated fruit and power bars.
• Cheese wheels that are not perfect in appearance can be shredded and grated.
• Whey becomes protein powder and in Parma whey from Parmigiano Reggiano is fed to the pigs that become Prosciutto – upscale upcycling.

The uses are limitless and necessary. Upcycled Food has a terrific blog that is worth checking out.

My grandmother upcycled worn clothing into Award-Winning quilts and “rag” rugs.

The difference between recycling and upcycling is that no breakdown of material is required to upcycle the item; only refashioning the item into another item that is useable. Habitat for Humanity has an interesting article on the difference between the two processes.

(Off topic and shameless self-promotion: Please read my article re Vegetarian-Suitable cheeses at The Cheese Professor.)

In addition to being a member of the Internationale Guilde des Fromagers (Jura and Garde) and an American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professional, I am a Certified ServSafe Food Production Manager with certifications that also include ServSafe Certified Instructor and Proctor. I am available for cheese events, cheese program development, cheese training, food safety training and 3rd party food safety auditing. See my About Me and Resume pages for more details or call me at 360 921 9908 to discuss availability.

This post may contain affiliate links from which I receive a small commission from any purchases you make through those links. I thank you for patronizing my amazon influencer store front. 

Cheese events at Sweet Combs of Honey will begin again in the next several weeks. Enjoy your summer vacation!!

The Man, aka Peter M. Wright, has written his first novel: Gold Fever, available at amazon.com as a kindle book for only $2.99.

Written in the flavor of one of our favorite movies, Romancing the Stone, Gold Fever is a romantic adventure that brings together an archeologist looking to establish his name in his field and a rock star on the verge of burn-out.

In GOLD FEVER  an Archeologist motivated by a newly discovered clue, searches for a fabled Native American Legend – the long ago lost Seven Golden Cities of Cibola. While the Archeologist seeks to prove the legend is actually true, he is constantly under attack by a second group seeking the treasure.

 

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