Engineering360: "Study: Americans don't understand food expiration dates"

I have sour cream in my refrigerator with a 'best by' date of July 18, 2018.

It's still smooth and creamy. But I remove what I want and quickly put the lid back on to help keep out airborne mold spores and bacteria. I only use a clean utensil to scoop out the sour cream.

A lot of salad dressings are fine, even four or more years past their 'best by' date. Many canned goods fit into this category.

When it comes to 'best by' dates, I look to see what the ingredients are. Food items with vinegar in them tend to keep very well. As do brine solutions.

Ultimately, for me, it comes down to this:

1. Look at it. If its appearance has changed significantly from 'new', e.g. color changed, or a significant separation of ingredients (except Italian dressing of course), or a significant change in consistency, or it has developed fermentation bubbles, then it falls into the 'suspect' category. A little browning around the edges of salads don't scare me. When it turns slimy brown, then it goes into the compost.

2. Smell it. Fresh cuts of meat generally have very little odor. Any significant change in smell puts food items into the 'suspect' category.

3. Taste it. You can tell a lot about something by tasting a very small portion if it looks ok and smells ok.

Some foods however, it behooves one to pay closer attention. Fresh cuts of meat need to be stored and handled properly or you can get really sick. I will stretch the 'best by' date on fresh cuts of meat by a few days, but I don't push my luck too much there. If I don't think I will use the meat by the 'best by' date, it goes in the freezer.

This article deserves an edit:

"... whereas the “Best By” date suggests a safety issue if food is consumed after the “Best By” date has passed, potentially resulting in food-borne illnesses like Listeria. ..."

“Best By” should be changed to "use by" to correct and to remain consistent with how the article began. The shift to this erroeous “Best By” phrase does demonstrate the point that American don't understand (assuming this article was penned by an American) but it only serves to exacerbate the issue in present form.

Have you noticed that pickles now contain "Refrigerate after opening"? Is that just the Lawyers or have they added something that preserves not as good as the pickling process?