Can I Still Eat This?

This week Reactions gets into the chemistry/science of expired foods and how expirations dates are lying to us.

An estimated 133 billion pounds of food gets thrown into the trash every year in the United States, so understanding when your food goes bad is important to help reduce waste. Unfortunately, consumers can’t just check the expiration date on the packaging, because the listed date rarely coincides with when the food actually spoils. So how can you tell if your food is still safe to eat? This week, Reactions talks food expiration-date misconceptions and gives you some guidelines to answer that age-old question: Can I still eat this?

FoodKeeper:
iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/usda-foodkeeper/id978186100?mt=8
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gov.usda.fsis.foodkeeper2 (H/T Samuel Walters-Nevet for sending us the Android link)

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Nylon Flares - Alec Makinson
LA Funk - Treehouse77

Producer:
Elaine Seward

Writer:
Sam Lemonick

Executive Producer:
Adam Dylewski

Scientific consultants:
Donald Schaffner, Ph.D.
Kyle Nackers
Darcy Gentleman, Ph.D. chemistry

Sources:
https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/resources/highschool/chemmatters/past-issues/2016-2017/october-2016.html
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/food-labeling/food-product-dating/food-product-dating
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/12/26/167819082/dont-fear-that-expired-food
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2015/10/is-expired-food-safe-to-eat/index.htm
https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/dating-game-report.pdf
https://www.foodsafety.gov/blog/2016/02/what-is-food-spoilage.html
http://food.unl.edu/how-food-spoils
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/safe-food-handling/molds-on-food-are-they-dangerous_/ct_index
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-why-cut-apples-turn-brown/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC164220/
http://file.scirp.org/pdf/FNS_2014021310355207.pdf
https://foodsafety.foodscience.cornell.edu/sites/foodsafety.foodscience.cornell.edu/files/shared/documents/CU-DFScience-Notes-Milk-Flavor-Defects-Sensory-Eval-04-10.pdf
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2012/07/scientists-find-new-culprits-spoil-milk

Ever wonder why dogs sniff each others' butts? Or how Adderall works? Or whether it's OK to pee in the pool? We've got you covered: Reactions a web series about the chemistry that surrounds you every day.

Reactions is produced by the American Chemical Society.

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