NatNews

If you are the type of person who doesn’t pay much attention to the dates listed on various food products, your nonchalance might not be a bad idea. After all, those dates aren’t necessarily indicative of food safety.

With the exception of its placement on infant formula, product dating is not required by federal regulations and is not an indicator of the product’s safety. And while there are no standard descriptions that must be applied when dates are placed on products to advise consumers on quality and freshness guidelines, the following are commonly used: “best if used by” indicates when the product will be of best flavor or quality; “sell by” informs the store of the date until which the product should be displayed for sale for inventory management; “use by” advises consumers of the last date recommended to use the product while it is at peak quality; and “freeze by” indicates the date by which a product should be frozen to maintain peak quality.

Dallas resident and medical doctor Carolyn Fan said whether or not she pays attention to a food or beverage advisory date depends on what the product is.

“For instance, honey doesn’t technically ever expire, and you can eat it forever,” she said. “I think any processed food expiration and sell-by dates are just best-by dates, and I honestly think the food just goes a little bit stale. But if it’s fresh produce or fresh food, I definitely believe in expiration dates. On my own, though, I definitely do not pay attention to expiration dates unless it smells weird or looks strange.”

Dallas and Denver resident and dietitian Lyndsey Kohn said she typically checks the dates for the milk she purchases for her coffee, but that’s mostly the extent of her concern.

“Since I buy groceries once a week, I usually don’t have to worry about expiration dates or food expiring,” she said. “I am usually buying fresh produce, so if I don’t eat it that week, it goes bad, and I’ll just throw it away.”

Some individuals, including Dallas-area resident Kyle Burnett, prefer to rely more on their senses than anything else when it comes to determining how wise it is to consume a product in question.

“I pay more attention to the smell test than the printed best-by date,” he said.

Burnett’s use of such a method to determine a food’s or beverage’s freshness is actually rather aligned with what many health professionals advise. In fact, the Cleveland Clinic recommends checking a product’s smell, examining it for mold, determining if its texture is different than what should be expected, and paying attention to its overall taste rather than focusing on the date listed on the product.

Kohn knows the aforementioned sell-by, use-by, and best-if-used-by dates are more for quality than safety, though she acknowledges that they are sometimes slightly more important for consumers to notice, especially from a health and safety standpoint.

“For perishable foods like meat, seafood, and dairy, the use-by date is absolutely helpful but is not a hard-and-fast rule,” she said. “Dairy is usually safe five days after the expiration date, but meat and seafood are much riskier for food-borne illnesses, such as salmonella, listeria, etc. Food-borne illnesses are a lot more common than people think, and a lot of times, it’s not from restaurants—it’s actually from your home-cooked meals.”

More information regarding general guidelines for freshness can be found on the Cleveland Clinic site. Fan said she is aware that the dates on most products are when they actually go bad, though she thinks it also might depend on how an individual stores the products and simply the system of the person, in general.

“But who knows?” she said. “I have a stomach of steel, and I have eaten street food from many different foreign countries that have looked very sketchy in the past, and people around me have gotten sick, but I’ve been completely fine. Thank goodness that my ancestors were exposed to terrible foods so that I now have a gut biome of a survivor.”

While that might not be the case for everyone, it’s not likely that consuming foods and drinks beyond the dates printed on their packaging will result in food poisoning or another food-related illness. Though this is certainly contingent on what the product is and the previously mentioned recommendations from the Cleveland Clinic, Burnett said he believes that most of those dates are merely to protect those selling the products.

“I think they can be a tool, and brands are probably being very conservative to what the actual date might be for CYA purposes,” he said.

Foods that tend to go bad more quickly usually have obvious signs that they are probably not safe to eat. If bread has mold, if an egg floats in water or gives off a foul smell, if milk has a sour smell or clumpy texture, and if a meat product has a pungent odor or slimy or discolored appearance, these are indications that the product should not be consumed. The advisory dates on such items can be more helpful to individuals who want to make sure that all of their products are safe to ingest, while other foods can go much longer without showing any signs of being potentially rotten.

“Any dry food—like pasta, rice, cereal, and canned foods—is usually safe,” Kohn said. “I’d be fine with eating those a month past the expiration date, assuming everything was still fine once I opened the can or bag.”

And for some people, including Fan, the limit of how long certain foods can stay good simply does not exist.

“I think honey, soda, and any processed foods do not actually really expire,” she said. “Especially Twinkies.”

Octothorpe is the actual name for the symbol more commonly known as a hashtag/pound sign/number sign.

With kids back in school and fall right around the corner, a familiar excitement has returned to the lives of several individuals—yes, football is back.

The NFL Preseason kicked off with the Hall of Fame game on Thursday, July 31, and the regular season gets underway on Thursday, September 4, as the Dallas Cowboys take on the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. College football opened the season with two top-25 teams facing off in Week Zero as Iowa State beat Kansas State 24-21 Saturday in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland. 

It’s a common occurrence during football season to see local sports bars packed with individuals gathered together on game day. While some are hardcore fans, others are merely there for the social aspect.

“Every year, I look forward to college football starting back up—but not really for the football,” Dallas-area resident Josh Odegard said. “I use it as an excuse to get friends together at a fun sports bar that will be playing the games.”

Odegard doesn’t support a specific team and often doesn’t really pay too much attention to what’s going on in any particular game. After all, that’s not really why he’s there, anyway.

“I don’t really care who wins or even who plays, but I like that it gives my group of friends another reason to go out and get drinks, especially since it means that summer is about to be over,” he said.

Unlike Odegard, Dallas-area resident Alexis Derrow does become invested in the games, especially when it comes to college football. As a graduate of Notre Dame, she is loyal to her Fighting Irish.

“I like to see how all of the games play out to see how they affect my team,” she said. “That takes up a lot of a Saturday. If I didn’t do a game watch, I’d be a hermit and never see my friends.”

Originally from the Chicago area, Derrow is less dedicated to the NFL, though she’s still up for watching games together when the opportunity arises.

“If people are getting together and I don’t need to run errands, I’m along for the ride,” she said. “The Bears are terrible, and I’m a bandwagon Cowboys fan.”

Dallas-area resident Steve Bergsman also enjoys meeting up with his friends to watch football, though he typically doesn’t do so when supporting his alma mater, Texas A&M University.

“I’m way too invested in the game to enjoy the noise and distractions of a bar or big group,” he said. “I prefer to watch in a focused setting where I can analyze plays, react freely, and not worry about casual fans talking over key moments. For other games, I’m more flexible. It really just depends on my interest level of the game and how much I really want to watch it. Nine times out of 10, though, I’m up for the social setting.”

And while Bergsman said he is “all in” when it comes to his Aggies, his rooting interest in and enthusiasm for certain NFL games has waned over time.

“Years of watching Jerry Jones screw up Dallas has turned me off from investing in the Cowboys anymore,” he said.

Regardless of one’s affinity or apathy for football or certain organizations, this particular sport has a way of creating bonds among strangers cheering for the same teams and allowing friends to spend cherished time together in inviting and high-spirited atmospheres.

“Even when I prefer to watch solo, I see how football season creates shared rituals—tailgates, fantasy leagues, group chats, and Monday morning recaps,” Bergsman said. “It gives people a common language and something to rally around.”

Like Bergsman, Derrow said she believes that football is a great creator of unity and togetherness.

“It’s fun to have a little interoffice rivalry with people from different colleges and see people repping their gear,” she said. “It’s a way to spend time with your friends that feels productive but actually is just hanging out. Day games are great because then you can just chill out afterward.”

And as Derrow recognizes, there’s an unexplainable but beautiful hope that many people have that can unite them with others and make them feel more connected to their teams.

“My favorite thing about football season is the three weeks before it actually starts,” she said, “when I delusionally believe that Notre Dame will bring home a championship before a soul-crushing loss to an unranked team.”

WEEKLY PHOTO OP

Some of the NatNews staff and dear readers recently celebrated the upcoming birthday of beloved dear reader Alexis Derrow 

Monday, August 25: Speed Dating & Singles Mixer (ages 26–36) at At Fault
Tuesday, August 26: Free Rooftop Movie — White Chicks at Sundown at Granada; Game of Thrones Trivia at Legacy Hall
Wednesday, August 27: Rangers vs. Angels at Globe Life Field; Dallas Wings vs. Connecticut Sun at College Park Center
Thursday, August 28: Frisco RoughRiders vs. San Antonio Missions at Riders Field
Friday, August 29: Candlelight — A Tribute to Adele at Edison’s; Riverfront Jazz Festival at Fair Park (goes through Sunday); Labor Day Weekend at Community Beer Co.
Saturday, August 30: WRRC Saturday run from Taco Joint; SMU vs. East Texas A&M (home opener) at Gerald Ford Stadium; Kali Uchis at the American Airlines Center; ABBA Tribute — Super Trouper at Legacy Hall
Sunday, August 31: Adoptable Puppy Yoga at Satya Yoga