Much of the food we eat is still good after its best before date. However, you should be more careful about keeping certain foods for too long.

In Europe, two durability markings are used for food: “best before” to show when quality may start to deteriorate, and “use by date” for products that quickly become unsafe to eat. The latter marking is uncommon and mainly applies to sensitive foods. Opened packages often have shorter shelf lives, but this can vary.

Frozen and dried foods often last longer than their best before dates. Even fresh products like eggs, milk and butter keep longer than indicated on the packaging.

Consumers are often encouraged not to be too strict about throwing away food that has reached its best before date, in order to reduce food waste. In 2023, each Swede threw away an average of 16 kilos of food as food waste, according to Avfall Sverige (Swedish Waste Management).

Despite these recommendations, there are exceptions where you should be more careful about throwing away food when it reaches its expiration date, writes Land.se.

Herring and cured salmon

Cured and smoked fish can contain listeria bacteria, which can be dangerous for small children, elderly people and those with compromised immune systems. Since the bacteria cannot be detected by smell or appearance, it’s important to follow the use by date. Opened packages should be consumed quickly.

Baltic herring, herring, tuna, mackerel and anchovies contain a considerable amount of the amino acid histidine. This amino acid is later converted to histamine when certain bacterial species thrive after the fish has been stored too warm for several hours. This can cause histamine poisoning, which can produce symptoms such as rash, diarrhea, nausea and heart palpitations.

Bread

A sure way to know when bread should be thrown away is when you see a mold spot. Unlike cheese, where it’s okay to cut away the mold and then eat it, this doesn’t apply to bread. The visible mold is probably only part of it – the rest of the mold fungus consists of long invisible threads that can be present throughout the bread slice.

Meat and poultry

Usually meat, poultry and shellfish have a use by date marking, which means it can be dangerous to health to eat after that date. However, you can freeze it before the last day if you don’t have time to eat it all, then it can keep in the freezer for a longer time – depending on the type of meat.

Ground meat, such as minced meat, is particularly sensitive to bacteria. Often it’s decomposition bacteria that make the mince smell and taste bad – there’s rarely a risk of disease transmission but it makes the mince inedible.

Yogurt and fresh cheese

Often yogurt, fresh cheese and crème fraîche keep past their best before date, but if you see the slightest mold formation, you should throw them away. Since the products contain a lot of water, there’s a risk that mold toxins spread throughout the entire food product.