Must we stop eating expired food?

Food that has expired is not necessarily inedible. It is recommended to judge according to the actual situation. Shelf life is not the only criterion to determine whether food has gone bad. Many physical, chemical and biological reactions will occur during the shelf life of food, and the shelf life is only a relatively safe "time point".

Usually, food packaging has a shelf life, and it is generally recommended to eat it within the shelf life. So if the food is expired, can I still eat it? Let's talk about whether food must be eaten after it expires.

The shelf life of 0 1 is not the only criterion to judge whether the food has gone bad. During the shelf life, many physical, chemical and biological reactions will occur in food. The shelf life is only a relatively safe "point in time". At this point in time, these physical and chemical reactions are within the range that the human body can bear, but then it is necessary to judge whether the food is edible according to the characteristics, smell, appearance and other factors.

Two years ago, a food supermarket named "WeFood" was opened in Copenhagen, Denmark. Unlike the dazzling supermarket in your mind, this supermarket will definitely surprise you-they specialize in selling expired food. Yes, as the first expired food supermarket in the world, the business of this expired food supermarket has been extremely prosperous since its opening, and even the Danish princess joined in person on the opening day. Why are the very rich Danes with the highest happiness index in the world so keen on expired food? Aren't they afraid of eating bad stomachs?

The shelf life in China generally refers to the time from the production of food to the obvious change of flavor. In China, according to the different product categories and processing technologies, the requirements for the shelf life standards of products are also different. For example, the shelf life of biscuits is 9 to 12 months, for example, the shelf life of baked biscuits is generally 9 months to 1 year, the shelf life of ham sausages is generally 6 months, and the shelf life of tinplate cans is generally 2 years or 2.5 years. ...

Shelf life is not the deadline of food, so I learned to judge whether "expired food" can be eaten. In China, there is only one standard for the shelf life. In other countries, the naming of shelf life is much more artistic and the standards are different. For example, a common method is to divide the shelf life into two types: taste appreciation period and edible period. In China, the definition of shelf life is "the quality guarantee period of products under normal conditions". During the shelf life, the merchant is responsible for the quality of the product, so it is recommended that everyone eat it during the shelf life, but the shelf life is not the only criterion for judging whether the food has gone bad.

In fact, during the shelf life, many physical, chemical and biological reactions have taken place in food. The physical processes mainly include food drying, moisture, caking and so on. Baby milk powder will agglomerate after a long time, and cookies will "crust" after a long time, that is, they will be softened by water. These are physical processes. Generally, it has no effect on the human body in the physical process, but the taste will be much worse. It is worth noting that the chemical process of food mainly includes rancidity of fat and enzymolysis of food itself. Chemical processes are noteworthy, which will change the smell of food, such as sour taste and bad taste, and produce some harmful substances. For example, edible oil may produce peroxide during rancidity, and cooking food with rancid oil may produce epoxypropanal, which is harmful to human health.

The most important thing is the biological process, which mainly includes the reproduction of microorganisms and the toxins secreted by them. Generally, food has obvious biological processes, and it can basically be judged that it is thrown away immediately. Many food poisoning incidents are caused by eating food with serious biological processes. From the moment the food leaves the production line, the process of these food changes has already taken place in the packaging. The shelf life is only a relatively safe "point in time". These physical and chemical reactions are within the human body's tolerance, but then we should judge whether it can be done according to the characteristics, smell, appearance and other factors of food.