What is the difference between the period of appreciation and the period of consumption?

 What is the difference between the period of appreciation and the period of consumption? Experts will teach you to understand foreign packaging!

But in the end, are these products safe? Is there an expiration date? What do the expiration dates and consumption dates on them mean?

This article will tell you all kinds of questions about the shelf life of food, including how to set the time? What are the differences between the labels of different countries? Let you understand once and for all!

If you see Japanese food, you should see "expiration date" and "consumption date" on the package, right? This text is not the same as the expiration date in Taiwan, but most people will interpret the expiration date as the expiration date, thinking that after the expiration date, the food should be spoiled and inedible. But this is a misconception!

In fact, as long as the food that has passed the expiration date is not placed in a bad environment, such as direct sunlight, high temperature or humid place, and the time does not exceed too long, then the food is not bad! Why is this the case? Let's start with the definition of the expiration date!

The expiration date and consumption date on Japanese packaged food: for different types of food

In 2003, Japan standardized the terminology of food expiration dates, and since then, there are only two types of food expiration dates: consumption expiration date and appreciation expiration date. Not only do they apply to different types of food, but they also have very different meanings.

The expiration date is the period of time to ensure that the food tastes best, and the expiration date does not mean that it is bad!

The expiration date is the period set by the premise that the product is "not yet opened". The expiration date means that the product has not been opened and is stored in accordance with the preservation methods on the package, so that the food is safe and the flavor is maintained at its best during this period.

In other words, after the expiration date, the food is actually not bad, just not as good as the original. The next question is, after the expiration date of the appreciation of food, how long can still be put?

How long after the expiration date will it go bad?

Food factories or product importers go through microbiological tests, physical and chemical tests, sensory tests, and other tests to ensure the quality of the food, and set the actual shelf life, and take 2/3 of it as the appreciation period. From this setting, we can know that after the expiration date, it does not mean that the food is bad and inedible, but just not as tasty as the original.

After the expiration date, you should avoid eating it!

If you pay attention to the date when you buy food in Japan, you may find that some foods are labeled with an expiration date, but sometimes it is a consumption date. Why is it that some foods are labeled with an expiration date for appreciation, but some are labeled with an expiration date for consumption?

This can be done by looking at the types of food labeled to help you understand the difference between them. Usually, fresh foods such as vegetables, meat or fish, cooked foods, bento, rice balls, sandwiches, and some processed foods are labeled with a consumption expiration date, and the common denominator of these foods is that they are more likely to spoil, and the expiration date is usually only a few days.

In Japan, there are cases where food is not marked with an expiration date

In addition, sugar, salt, wine and some seasonings are not likely to spoil, so you can omit to label the expiration date. So don't be too surprised to see no expiration date labeled when you buy such foods in Japan.

There are two terms related to the effective edibility label for food.

Shelf life: The period of time that a commercially available packaged food product can retain its value under certain storage conditions, which is a range of time, e.g. "shelf life: two years".

Expiration date: The final period for which a commercially available packaged food product can retain its value under certain storage conditions. Also, if the shelf life is more than three months, the expiration date can be marked only for the next month, with the end of that month as the end date.

The biggest difference between these two terms is in the bold text. The shelf life is about how long a food can be kept in the right environment. The expiration date, on the other hand, directly tells you when the food will expire.

Early packaged food will be labeled with the date of manufacture and shelf life, as to when the expiration date, consumers have to calculate their own, if the shelf life of only a few months is still good to calculate, but the kind of year two years of the product will test a large number of people. Because of this, later changed to mark the expiration date, we all do not busy, directly tell you when to expire!

Expiration date is actually how to set it?

When setting the expiration date of food, we must base on food composition, process and may be affected by environmental factors, such as temperature, humidity and light and the relationship between time change, research and analysis of food deterioration curve, based on the presumption of the expiration date to ensure the effectiveness and safety of food consumption. That is, the expiration date of the food must be safe for consumption, and maintain its appearance, taste, texture and flavor, as well as to meet its nutrition label.

But the question arises, packaged food in the regulation of food expiration date, only the "expiration date", and how to correspond with the period of foreign food? See the table below for a comparison!

After reading the introduction of the expiration date and the expiration date of consumption of imported Japanese food, the next time you have a friend's gift or bought Japanese food that has passed its expiration date, don't be in a hurry to throw it away! If it's only a few days past the expiration date and you've put it in the right environment, then the food should not have gone bad yet, so don't waste it. As for the things marked with a consumption period, basically they are mainly fresh food, and most of them cannot be brought back to Taiwan to eat. However, if you see food in Japan that has an expiration date, please make sure to eat it within the expiration date!

See this, have you understood the food shelf life label of each country? The next time you go abroad to buy something, or when you judge whether it can be eaten, you will not be confused anymore!