Spend more time with your food. Best before dates are a guide, not a goodbye.

Understanding date labels can help you make informed decisions about what you buy and eat. It will help you save your food from being thrown away while it’s still perfectly edible and will also reduce your grocery bill.

If you’re confused by date labels on food, you’re not alone. Research by Second Harvest, Canada’s largest food rescue organization, found that 23 per cent of food waste is caused by the misunderstanding of best before dates.

There are different kinds of date labels depending on the product. The most common ones are best before and expiration dates – but what’s the difference?

Best before dates tell you how long a properly stored, unopened product will keep its freshness, taste and nutritional value. It doesn’t tell you if the food is safe to eat or not.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says you can safely eat food after the best before date has passed, as long as it has been stored properly and has no signs of spoilage.

Expiration dates, however, are about food safety. Expiration dates are only required on five food products: formulated liquid diets, pharmacist-sold diet supplements, meal replacements, nutritional supplements and infant formula. These foods should not be consumed after their expiration dates.

Use your senses. Steer clear of packaging that is bulging, torn, infested, water damaged, smells bad, or contains mould or discolouration. While your senses don’t always help you determine whether food has gone bad, they can help you detect signs that it may not have been stored properly and may not be safe to eat.

Most foods are safe to eat well beyond their best before dates, as long as they are stored properly.

Perishable foods should be refrigerated below 4 C and frozen foods below -18 C. Germs grow rapidly at temperatures between 4 and 60 C. This is called the “danger zone.” Don’t keep meat, poultry, fish, dairy or cooked leftovers at room temperature for more than two hours.

Take your food saving skills to the next level with Love Food Hate Waste:

• Join a free webinar and hear from experts on different ways you can spend more time with your food
• Complete the four-week challenge for the chance to win $500 towards your groceries

Visit the City’s food waste reduction page for more tips and advice on date labels and how to store your food correctly.