Are Dates on Food Just BS? | 14
Call Me Curious
Audible
4.4 • 555 Ratings
🗓️ 9 June 2022
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Can I still eat this? We’ve all been tempted by food that's past its posted freshness date. While many people worry about illness or the yuck-factor and toss food out, others trust their noses and look for ways to not waste food. But seriously — what does 'Best by,' 'Sell by,' and 'Use by' dates even mean? On this episode, Nikki and Mr. Malone enter the mysterious world of food labeling. And with food safety expert Dr. Robert Brackett as their guide through our refrigerators and cupboards, they'll find out if the dates on our food are really just BS.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From Wondry, I'm Nikki Boyer, and this is Call Me Curious, where every week I'll get to the bottom of those funny, strange, puzzling, or just got-a-no questions you have. |
| 0:16.9 | And we'll tell you the best we can what the answer is. |
| 0:21.0 | Because I've got 21 questions. |
| 0:23.6 | I've been 21 guessing you could teach me a lesson. |
| 0:28.3 | Call me curious. |
| 0:32.2 | Call me curious. |
| 0:34.2 | Call me curious. |
| 0:36.2 | So tell the truth Hi, welcome to call me curious. |
| 0:52.3 | I'm so happy you're here today, I really am. So look, I don't know if you're like me, but my refrigerator can be a little bit of a time capsule. Not in a good way, if you know what I mean. Look, I got condiments from two presidents ago. I don't have a little bit of cheese that has three-day stubble. I had a yogurt that I just bought, but it's already starting to bulge. Full disclosure, part of me wants to open it. Take a whiff to see how disgusting it is, |
| 1:16.3 | and I know you do too, because that's gross, but it's also interesting. So on one hand, |
| 1:22.9 | I can't eat this stuff because it's gross. But on the other hand, some of the old stuff in my fridge, it still seems usable. |
| 1:31.3 | I'm looking at you three-year-old Maraschino cherries and your neighbor, the horseradish. |
| 1:35.3 | I see you. |
| 1:36.3 | I mean, sure, I could throw these away, but do I have to? |
| 1:39.3 | Isn't that wasteful? |
| 1:42.3 | They might technically be expired, but they seem perfectly fine to me. |
| 1:46.9 | Okay, so this got me thinking about the dates that we see on food. How accurate are they? How are they determined? |
| 1:54.0 | Are those sell-by and best-by dates just a suggestion? And why can't I just trim the beard off the cheese, right? Isn't cheese mold? |
| 2:02.4 | So look, are these expiration dates just BS? These answers and many more on the podcast that's |
| 2:09.5 | always at its peak of freshness. Call me curious. All right, right now, I'd like to bring on someone |
| 2:15.6 | who is totally and completely spoiled my good friend |
| 2:19.2 | mr malone hi Nikki i'm laughing you can call me like a day day old malone um oh i'm a day old |
... |
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