Category Archives: Food Safety

Dear Wasted Food Dude–Table Scraps

Here’s the latest installment of my food waste advice column, Dear Wasted Food Dude. It will run on BioCycle‘s website and in BioCycle Food Recycling News, their fledgling e-bulletin, but I’ll also crosspost here. Very related: send inquiries! Please write in with any food-waste-related question/issue/conundrum. I’m not picky–the query can be big or small, true or false, named or anonymous. [...]

June 14, 2016 | Also posted in Household, Wasted Food Dude | Comments closed

Dear Wasted Food Dude–Date Label Hell(p)

Here’s the latest installment of my food waste advice column, Dear Wasted Food Dude. The column will run on BioCycle‘s website and in BioCycle Food Recycling News, their fledgling e-bulletin that all “wasted foodies” should sign up for pronto! I will also crosspost the columns here on Wasted Food. One thing any advice column needs inquiries. That means you need [...]

May 26, 2016 | Also posted in Household, Leftovers, Legislation, Wasted Food Dude | Comments closed

Legislating Date Labels

America’s date label status quo has expired. Lack of a national standard on date labels combined with a jumble of state laws on the subject causes a jumble of confusing terms. A recent Harvard/Hopkins survey (PDF) documented the extent of that confusion. In that haze, we often throw out perfectly good food. That confusion causes [...]

May 19, 2016 | Also posted in Legislation | Comments closed

Required Watching: EXPIRED?

The Harvard Food Policy and Law Clinic (FLPC) just released a fabulous short film on date labels called EXPIRED? You can watch it below and don’t miss their stout op-ed in the LA Times. I’m pretty sure you won’t spend a better 5 minutes online today. EXPIRED? is part of a neat companion site with plenty of [...]

February 11, 2016 | Also posted in Campaigns, Household, Legislation | Comments closed

Could Bump Mark Debunk Date Labels?

If you’re like me, you love innovations that prevent food from being wasted and hate the inefficiency of expiration dates. That’s why I’m high on Bump Mark, an in-package fresh food indicator now in development. Solveiga Pakstaite, a recent university grad in Britain, created Bump Mark after winning the James Dyson Award to do so. As you [...]

January 28, 2015 | Also posted in Household, International | Comments closed

Befriend Your Fridge (and Freezer)

Here’s a blast of knowledge: The below NRDC infographic helps us get to know our refrigerators better so as to combat food waste. Read and learn!

October 10, 2013 | Also posted in Household, Storage | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

More than 100 New York City restaurants–including ones owned by Mario Batali, Lidia Bastianich and Danny Meyer–have pledged to cut their waste in half. One thing conspicuously absent in the writeup was any kind of timeline. Still, great news! — — The GRACE Communications Foundation (the folks behind The Meatrix) just launched a new site on food waste, and [...]

April 26, 2013 | Also posted in College, Environment, Restaurant | Comments closed

Besmirching a Good Samaritan?

A recent L.A. Times piece on the legality of restaurant donations made me wonder a bit about the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act–you know, that 1996 federal shield law that protects donors from liability when they donate food that they deem to be in good shape. In the article, Shirley Wei Sher, a [...]

March 25, 2013 | Also posted in Restaurant | Comments closed

Sensing Freshness

Can “electronic sensor circuits” reduce food waste by judging food freshness (through measuring acidity levels) more accurately than expiration dates? Yes. But… -But that’s not saying much, as expiration dates aren’t all that accurate. -But so could your own sensors–of smell, sight and taste. -But these food sensors are currently too expensive for mainstream adoption. -But, the [...]

March 18, 2013 | Also posted in Supermarket, Technology | Comments closed

Zapping Bread Waste?

Texas company MicroZap has found a way to redefine bread’s shelf life by keeping it mold-free for 60 days. This isn’t done by using a freezer or all-powerful preservatives, but rather by sending bread through a “sophisticated microwave array” resembling an assembly line. While this solution feels a bit…unnatural, it’s similar to pasteurization of milk (which [...]

December 3, 2012 | Also posted in Household | Comments closed