Do expiration dates really make sense? The French compete in two categories around this question. There are those who do not eat a product whose date is only a day past and those for whom it is really not very serious to consume food that is a little out of date. Fleur, 46, is rather reckless when it comes to expired products. This mother has changed her way of consuming with the rise in prices: “Before, I used to throw away a lot. Every week I sorted through the fridge and as soon as the deadline was reached, I threw away”. Food but also financial waste, especially when you have to feed four mouths every week.
“At one point, I realized that it was still ridiculous to do that,” Fleur told Planet. She then begins to find out about the consumption times of certain products and understands that she has thrown away, in the past, food that was still edible. “I go beyond the expiry dates only for certain foods”, she specifies, mainly for “dairy products, cheeses and only if they have not been opened”, with regard to the fresh.
As for dry products, she has no problem eating cakes that have not been opened, even if they have been past the use-by date for a month. Drinks are not a problem for him either, as long as the fruit juices have not fermented: “If they have ever become gassy, ​​then you must not drink them. If the date is a few days, you really don’t feel any difference in taste”.
If she is not afraid to consume expired products, the forty-year-old is not yet buying short-dated foods in supermarkets. “My children and my companion won’t eat if it’s expired, so I never shop for short dates. On the other hand, I make an effort with the fruits: if they’re not pretty, if they’re damaged, I use them for a cake, I don’t throw them away”. The desire to consume better and to stop wasting was firmly anchored in her body, Fleur changed her habits, but didn’t really succeed in convincing her loved ones… However, she was sick only once.
If Fleur consumes her expired yoghurts up to a month after their expiry date, it is out of the question for her two children, aged 14 and 19. “My children are a little ashamed, they laugh at me saying that I eat out of date all the time. My companion thinks I’m crazy,” she confides to Planet, with a smile on her face. Crazy no, but risk lover, yes.
Since she “eats expired”, the forty-year-old has had only one disappointment, with a chocolate cream… “I knew that yogurts could be eaten a month after their deadline, so I told myself that it It was the same for the dessert creams. I was sick half an hour later, so I looked on my phone: anything cream type should not be eaten beyond 3 days after the date. There, as much to say that I was well outside the nails”.
If she got away with food poisoning, her misadventure made her loved ones laugh. However, it was the only time she had a bad surprise with expired food. However, she is not satisfied with only yogurts…
Fleur will never eat meat or fish that have passed their best before date. On the other hand, with regard to cheese and butter, she is less careful and can consume them up to 15 days after the deadline. “I assure you that we are not sick with expired butter and cheese for 15 days,” she smiles.
Has she ever served dishes made with expired food? “I don’t dare, I don’t do it”, she admits to Planet: “I would be really annoyed, embarrassed, if my guests were sick by coming to eat at my house”. “Eating expired is that for me, my children don’t want to and I wouldn’t do it to my friends. It’s a kind of challenge that I set myself to stop wasting, that I had fun doing and which ultimately is not so hard”, she concludes. If she is not yet at zero waste, Fleur knows that she has already reduced the amount of products that end up in the trash at home. Successful bet then?
In France, food losses and waste represent 10 million tonnes of products per year.