Hamburger buns from last summer's picnic? Milk past its sell-by date?

去年夏天野餐時的漢堡麵包？過了保質期的牛奶？

Carrots that lost their crunch?

不再輕脆的胡蘿蔔？

Countries around the world waste huge amounts of food every year, and the United States is one of the worst offenders.

世界各國每年都會浪費大量的食物，而美國是其中最嚴重的一個。

37% of US food waste comes from individual households.

美國 37% 的食物垃圾來自於個別家庭。

And roughly 20% of those food items are tossed because consumers aren't sure how to interpret the dates they're labeled with.

而這些食品中大約有 20% 被扔掉，因為消費者不確定如何解讀標籤上的日期。

But most of those groceries are still perfectly safe to eat.

但是這些雜貨中的大多數仍然可以完全安全地食用。

So if the dates on our food don't tell us that something's gone bad, what do they tell us?

所以，如果食物上的日期沒有告訴我們什麼東西變質了，那它們告訴能我們什麼？

Before the 20th century, the path between where food was produced and where it was eaten was much more direct,

在 20 世紀之前，食物產地和食用地之間的路徑是更直接的，

and most people knew how to assess freshness using sight, smell, and touch.

大多數人知道如何用視覺、嗅覺和觸覺來評估新鮮度。

But when supermarkets began stocking processed foods, product ages became harder to gauge.

但當超市開始儲備加工食品時，產品的保質期變得更難衡量。

In the US, grocers used packaging codes to track how long food had been on the shelves,

在美國，雜貨店使用包裝代碼來追蹤食品在貨架上的時間，

and in the 1970s, consumers demanded in on that info.

而在 1970 年代，消費者要求提供這些資訊。

Many supermarkets adopted a system still in place today called open dating,

許多超市採用了一種至今仍在使用的系統，稱為公開日期，

where food manufacturers or retailers labeled products with dates indicating optimum freshness.

食品製造商或零售商在產品上標註日期，標示最佳新鮮度。

This vague metric had nothing to do with expiration dates or food safety.

這個模糊的指標與保質期或食品安全沒有任何關係。

In fact, it's rarely decided with any scientific backing, and there are usually no rules around what dates to use.

事實上，這很少有任何科學依據來決定，而且通常沒有關於使用什麼日期的規定。

So most manufacturers and retailers are motivated to set these dates early,

所以大多數製造商和零售商都有動機將這些日期設置得提前一點，

ensuring customers will taste their food at its best and come back for more.

確保顧客能品嚐到最新鮮的食物，並回購更多。

This means many foods are safe to eat far beyond their labeled dates.

這代表許多食品在其標籤上的日期後仍可安全食用。

Old cookies, pasta, and other shelf-stable groceries might taste stale, but they aren't a health risk.

陳舊的餅乾、義大利麵和其他耐久性食品可能會口感不新鮮，但它們不會對健康構成危險。

Canned foods can stay safe for years, so long as they don't show signs of bulging or rusting.

罐頭食品可以安全保存許多年，只要它們沒有出現膨脹或生鏽的跡象。

Low freezer temperatures keep bacteria that cause food poisoning in check, preserving properly stored frozen dinners indefinitely.

冰箱的低溫可以抑制引起食物中毒的細菌，從而無期限地保存妥善儲存的冷凍食品。

Refrigerated eggs are good for up to five weeks, and if they spoil, your nose will let you know.

冷藏的雞蛋最多可以保存五個星期，如果它們變質，你的鼻子會聞得出來。

And you can always spot spoiled produce by off odors, slimy surfaces, and mold.

而且你可以通過異味、粘稠的表面和黴菌來發現變質的產品。

Of course, there are some cases where you're better safe than sorry.

當然，在有些情況下，安全總比後悔好。

The USDA recommends eating or freezing meat within days of purchase.

美國農業部建議，肉類在購買後幾天內食用或冷凍。

Beyond their printed dates, ready-to-eat salads, deli meats, and unpasteurized cheeses are more likely to carry pathogenic bacteria that can slip past a smell or taste test.

除了印刷的日期之外，即食沙拉、熟食肉類和未經巴氏消毒的乳酪較有可能攜帶無法在嗅覺或味覺測試中被發現的病原細菌。

And the dates on infant formula are regulated to indicate safety.

嬰兒配方奶粉上的日期受到控管，以表明安全。

But while some of these labels work as intended, the vast majority don't.

但是，雖然其中一些標籤中按按預期運作，但絕大多數都沒有。

In a 2019 survey of over 1,000 Americans, more than 70% said they use date labels to decide if food is still edible, and nearly 60% said they'd toss any food past those dates.

在 2019 年對超過 1000 名美國人的調查中，超過 70% 的人說他們依照日期標籤來決定食物是否仍可食用，而近 60% 的人說他們會扔掉任何超過這些日期的食物。

Restaurants and grocers often do the same.

餐廳和雜貨店也經常這樣做。

To avoid all this waste, many experts advocate for laws to require that date labels use one of two standardized phrases:

為了避免這些浪費，許多專家主張制定法律要求日期標籤使用兩個標準化的標語：

"Best if used by," to indicate freshness, or "Use by" to indicate safety.

「最佳食用期限」表示新鮮度，或「食用期限 」表示安全。

This solution isn't perfect, but some US researchers estimate that setting these standards at a federal level could prevent roughly 398,000 tons of food waste annually.

這個解決方案並不完美，但一些美國研究人員估計，由聯邦政府設立這些標準，每年可以防止大約 398,000 噸的食物浪費。

Grocers could also try removing date labels on produce,

雜貨商也可以嘗試移除農產品上的日期標籤，

as several UK supermarket chains have done to encourage consumers to use their own judgement.

就像英國的幾家連鎖超市，鼓勵消費者依據自己的判斷食用食物。

Many experts also advocate for policies incentivizing grocers and restaurants to donate unsold food.

許多專家還主張制定政策，激勵雜貨商和餐館捐獻未售出的食物。

Currently, confusion around dates has led at least 20 US states to restrict donating food past its labeled date,

目前，對於日期的混淆導致美國至少 20 個州限制捐贈過期食品，

even though the federal government actually protects such donations.

即使聯邦政府其實保護這種捐贈。

Countries like France go even further, requiring that many supermarkets donate unsold food.

法國等國家甚至更進ㄧ步，要求許多超市捐贈未售出的食品。

Regardless of what your government decides, the best way to prevent food waste is to eat what you buy!

不管你們的政府決定如何，防止食物浪費的最好方法是吃掉你所買的東西！

And don't forget that your eyes, nose, and tongue are usually all you need to decide if food is fit for consumption or the compost bin.

不要忘記，通常你只需要用眼睛、鼻子和舌頭就可以判斷食物是否適合食用或該丟進廚餘桶。