Moving out, moving on: Expiration cheat sheet—yes, tea bags expire
DeAndre' Upshaw on May 12, 2009 Moving from one location to another is difficult, but it can also be a great time to clear yourself of some of the clutter in your life.
A great place to start is your pantry! Unfortunately, there are a lot of things that you would think are good for a long time, but you really shouldn't eat. And expiration codes (the number on the packaging that tell you when the food should be consumed by) are not standardized and can be pretty confusing.
Here are some tips that'll help you determine if food is still good to eat or not!
- Best By means that the food will taste the best by this date. You can probably still eat it after this date, but it will probably taste slightly different.
- Sell By means that you have a few weeks after this date to consume the product.
- Expires On means DO NOT EAT!
You typically get a few days after on most products, but this is a general rule of thumb for most foods.
Now that you know the what the different sayings mean, what about the codes? Someone over at Lifehacker decoded what the numbers mean for a lot of different products and put them on a convenient chart. Check it out here, go to your pantry, and toss some stuff out!
Hapy cleaning,
DeAndre'
