My yogurt is not old!
It happened to me again recently. A yogurt from almost prehistoric times was hidden in the back of the refrigerator. Since it still looked normal from the outside, I was brave and opened it. Lo and behold: everything is perfect, put it in the breakfast muesli!
But not everyone is that brave. Around 206,000 tonnes of food ends up in the garbage in Austrian households every year, even though it is still edible. Most are thrown away unchecked, simply because they’ve passed their sell-by date.
Greenpeace food check
In a long-term test that began in January 2017, the environmental protection organization Greenpeace, on behalf of the ORF’s “Mother Earth” campaign, found that food has a much longer shelf life than the best-before date (MHD) would have us believe.
Eight foods were examined, including eggs, yogurt, cake, salami, and soy yogurt, which were 14 days past the specified best-before date. The tested yogurt in particular achieved an amazing result: even 26 weeks after the best-before date, it was still perfect and edible! Soy yogurt, smoked tofu, eggs, salami, cake, and cheese also held up surprisingly well. A vegetarian sesame dip was the earliest to give up, but this was still ok two weeks after the best-before date.
Best before date (MHD) is not the same as to use by date
By the way: The MHD is not the expiry date! Only a few perishable foods have a real expiry date (use-by date), e.g. B. Fresh meat and minced meat. The pack then says “Use by…”. In addition, the MHD is given far too short by many manufacturers in order to avoid liability issues.
Determine the shelf life of food
So we rely on common sense and our five senses. An exceeded best-before date is by no means a reason to throw away food. If you smell it, pay attention to the consistency and taste a little of it, it is usually easy to determine whether it is still edible.
Foodless is more
In order not to waste food in general, Greenpeace recommends not to go shopping when hungry, not buying excess food, and, above all, avoiding perishable multipack offers.
Here you will find the best recipes with yogurt (also with expired ones!). If your expired yogurt is still good, why not try this quick yogurt poppy seed cupcake or these fabulous savory pickled yogurt balls.
By the way: Leftovers from cooking also have a right to further use and don’t have to go into the bin uneaten 😉 Even when cooking with leftovers, you can still prepare wonderful meals!