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How did I not know there was a Discard Studies blog before now? A recent post features a fabulous array of infographics, or “theaters of proof.” Enjoy the show.

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Smart phones can help ensure food safety? And potentially let you see the cow your milk came from? Smile, Bessie! Or Cow 8261.

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Compost, trash or disposal? Easy decision, right? Not so much, as we learn in this helpful flow chart.

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This article on Bon Appetit Management food waste minimization at Penn is music to my ears.

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Wish you had a sleek kitchen compost container? Now UCan.

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Finally, it’s nice to see the big boys like Waste Management getting more and more interested in composting.

Yes, the Walmart video below is a nice bit of propaganda, but it’s a result of a genuine effort by that retailer to reduce their waste. And that effort is paying dividends.

The video contains some fabulous illustrations of the resources embedded in our eggs (and food supply). Plus, it features an image of a Manhattan-sized omelette!

My dismissal of most expiration dates stems from personal experience and knowing how much caution is built into those dates. Still, it’s nice to have the backing of some hard science mixed with journalistic experimentation, as in this piece from the (UK) Daily Mail.

In the experiment, journalist Tom Rawstorne bought identical food items, then tested each one on the date of purchase, the day indicated by the date stamp, a week after the expiry of the date stamp, and two weeks after it. A food safety expert and an independent lab also tested the items. Of all the items, raw chicken was the only food that was questionable a week after its supposed expiration date.

Thanks to its scientific rigor, the article is useful. Yet, it has just the right amount of sensationalism (‘I ate a meal comprised of items two weeks past their “use-by” or “best before” dates and I’m still alive’). Plus, there’s fun art.

The piece even contains its own mini story arc–the transformation of Rawstorne from a complete “best before” truster to someone who concludes:

These results took me by surprise. I’m not suggesting we all live on a diet of old food, but these tests show that if you’re careful, using your taste and smell sensibly to assess food, there really is no need to be paranoid about date stamps.

Rawstorne also pushes for more common sense and less blind trust in expiration dates. His evidence: food date labels didn’t exist in Britain before 1980.

The food waste awareness is mounting…

It was neat to see such a major newspaper address the absurdity of expiration dates (albeit in a soft newsy section). Also, to have The Times give voice to the some of the logic I’ve long held. For example, this one from Bridget Lancaster, host of PBS’ America’s Test Kitchen:

We have five senses that were given to us that are the best tools for finding out whether food has gone bad.

And it was nice to see the author, Bruce Feiler, affirm what I’d long heard: that infant formula is the only product with federally-mandated expiration dates.

It’s certainly worth reading, but I didn’t love the ending (even if I understood why he went with it). After downplaying the health risks of items at or past their expiration dates, Feiler capitulates at the end:

Therein lies the truth of a well-kept kitchen: the health of your food is far less important than the health of your marriage.

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Also, in case you wanted a glimpse of my kitchen and compost bin–here’s your chance:

As a general rule, the softer an item, the easier it is for mold to spread. So tread lighter with cottage cheese than with romano. In either case, you should be generous in your trimming and employ a bit of common sense afterwards. As always, sight and smell (and taste) should guide your decision on whether to keep or toss the item.

It’s nice to be reminded of this topic every once in a while. I was prodded on the topic recently when a reader (who opted to remain anonymous) sent in “before” and “after” pictures from a bit of mold removal he did with a butter-ish spread.

He was thinking of returning the item to the store, but held off after realizing that the retailer would just  throw away the tub even thought the majority of it was perfectly fine. Instead, he scraped:

Looks good!

Stephen Jannise of Distribution Software Advice recently wrote an interesting post dissecting this summer’s egg recall and pondering ways to avoid another such disaster. The post even included this handy, handsome infographic explaining exactly what happened:

Not surprisingly for someone writing for Software Advice, the post focuses on a potential technology-based solution. Essentially, the idea is whether or not food companies should install tracking software to be able to trace each box it ships.

While this would be expensive up-front, it would hopefully avoid unnecessary losses later. Once the outbreak’s origin is identified, this new tracking technology would hopefully prevent the ‘widely cast net’ recall method. What do you think–would this tracking be worth the trouble? And should the FDA require or help fund the technology??

One thought: I’ve seen eggs with the expiration date printed right on their shell. How much harder would it be to have the tracking number stamped on? Given the vagueness of “use-by” dates, that tracking info would probably be more useful.

Of course, free ranging hens would eliminate most all contamination concerns, as they’d be eating “food,” not “feed.” But we’re not likely to make a complete return to that system.

While their “chill chain” may be our cold one, the study is quite useful on either side of the Atlantic. It found that many folks’ refrigerator temperatures are often too warm (above the ideal 0 to 5 degrees C). In fact, the mean temperature was 7 degrees. That’s important, as a warm fridge will curtail a food’s shelf (and half-) life.

The study’s authors hope to prompt behavior change for the general public on this topic (via Love Food, Hate Waste). For instance, making individuals aware of the importance of keeping fridges at the right temperature. And encouraging them to use a cooler bag/box to bring items home on warm days.

The authors also hope to inspire fridge manufacturers to make temperature readings and controls more obvious for consumers. And they’d like these makers of “white goods,” along with grocers, to help spread the word on the ideal temperature (roughly 32 to 40 degrees F).

In addition, they’ve given you 95 pages of food temperature info to peruse the next time you’re just, you know, chillin.

Products most often discarded without being used: vegetables.

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The people have spoken on the 5-Second Rule. Well, at least they’ve participated in a poll.

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Dan Sullivan kills it with his piece on college composting with an assist from the cool COMFOOD list-serv.

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A fun read with a theory on littering that will please all of you Oregon Trail fans (my hand is raised).  Only semi-waste-related, but worth a few minutes.