Eggs...sell by yesterday?

蛋，保存期限到昨天？

Orange juice...best by two days ago

柳橙汁....最佳賞味期快過兩天了

Yogurt...use by last week?

優格...有效期限是上週？

Well, now I have to get rid of all these food.

好喔，現在我得把這些食物全都丟棄了

If I don't, someone could get sick.

如果我不這麼做，有人會因此生病的

No, you don't. "Best-by", "Use-by-", "Sell-by"

不，你不需要。「最佳賞味期限」、「有效期限」、「保質期」

Contrary to popular belief, none of these dates actually tells you when food stops being safe to eat.

與一般認知不同，這些日期其實都沒有告訴你究竟食物到哪天以前還是安全可食用的

In fact, food can still be good way past the date on the label.

事實上，就算過了標籤上的日期很久了，食物還是有可能可以吃。

According to food safety experts, eggs can be eaten three to five weeks past the sell-by date.

食物安全專家指出，蛋在保質期過了三到五週後仍可食用

Sell-by dates are a yolk.

保質期是個笑話 (蛋黃 yolk 與笑話 joke 諧音)

And the USDA says canned and dried foods can be saved indefinitely.

美國農業部說罐頭食品或乾燥食物則可近乎無限期地被保存

Ho! Ho! Ho! I won't go bad for years.

哈哈哈！我放好幾年都不會壞掉

And if food isn't handled properly, it can actually go bad before the date on the label.

如果食物沒有被好好保存，即便它還沒到標籤上的日期，它其實也會壞掉

Even something as simple as leaving it out on the counter too long or setting your fridge at the wrong temperature can cut shelf life short.

就算只是把它放在流理台過久，或是調錯冰箱溫度都會縮短保存期限

So hot in here.

這裡好熱

I think I am....I am going bad.

我想我...我要變「壞」了

At the end of the day, these dates just don't tell you that much.

到頭來，這些日期根本沒告訴你什麼。

Instead, you need to check your food for signs of spoilage, like changes in smell, color or texture.

反之，你應該要去確認食物腐壞的跡象，像是味道、顏色、質地的變化。

Oh...Well then this milk is definitely bad.

喔...這牛奶絕對是壞掉了。

Nope, you can still drink me.

不，你依然可以喝我

Oh yeah, milk is a really neat exception.

喔沒錯，牛奶是個有趣的例外。

Even after its "spoils," it's still totally safe to drink.

即便在他「臭酸」之後，他依然是可以安全下肚的

Oh ew~ Stop! You're gonna get sick.

喔別喝了，你會生病的

Nope! Milk is pasteurized, which means any harmful bacteria was removed long before it hit the shelves.

不會！牛奶是經過滅菌的，也就是說在它被送到貨架之前，任何有害的細菌都已經被移除了。

Even though it might not taste great, the safety risk of drinking spoiled milk are virtually zero.

即使味道很臭，喝過期牛奶的安全疑慮幾乎為零

Adam, stop! I get it, I get it.

Adam，夠了，我懂了，我懂了

But, if the date doesn't say when the food is safe to eat, why does the federal government put it there?

但是，如果這些日期無法說明食物何時是可以吃的，為什麼政府要規定食物要加上標籤呢？

Hate to break it to you: They don't.

很抱歉必須打破謊言，告訴你真相：他們沒規定

We all assume that these labels are some kind of big government safety regulation, but, with the exception of baby food, the federal government actually doesn't require date labeling of any kind.

我們都假設這些標籤是政府的安全規範，但其實除了嬰兒食品，聯邦政府並沒有規定任何其他食物需要標明保存期限

The citizens of this great nations have inalienable right to eat five-year-old mayonnaise if they want, for this is... America.

在這個偉大國家的的公民有不可剝奪的權利，只要想要，都可以去吃放五年的美乃滋，因為這就是...美國...

Instead, it's all left up to the states, and every state has their own rules.

相對來說，這全都交給各州去決定，每個州都有自己的規定

In fact, nine states have no date labeling regulations at all.

事實上，有九個州完全沒有關於有效日期標示的規定

Well, who does put the dates on the food? Seems like they don't tell us anything at all.

那是誰要貼標籤到這些食物上的？感覺它們沒什麼用啊？

Oh, no, they do tell you one thing: when the manufacturer thinks their food tastes the best.

喔不，他們只會告訴你一件事：廠商認為食物最好吃的時刻

What?

什麼？

Here at Hulko, we use cutting-edge food science to determine the exact best-by and use-by date on which our food is the most snack-tabulous.

在 Hulko 裡，我們用尖端食品科技去決定零嘴最好吃的食用期限

Mmm...I am still pretty good.

嗯...我覺得很好吃

Pretty good garbage, you mean. Date it, boys!

你是說很棒的垃圾嗎？小夥子們，貼上標籤！

But that food is not dangerous, and he just said it, it still tasted good.

但是那個食物是無害的，他剛剛也說了，它還是很好吃

Not good enough. We need our customers eating our food at maximum crunchitude, or they might buy something else.

不夠好吃。我們要顧客品嘗到我們食物脆度最高的時候，不然他們就有可能會去買其他東西。

And hey, if they think they have to throw it away sooner and buy more...

而且，嘿！如果他們快點把東西丟掉而去買更多的話...

But that's wasting food.

但這是在浪費食物

That's right, Melinda, and it's a major problem.

沒錯，Melinda，這是個大問題

Melinda, this is Dana Gunders.

Melinda，這是 Dana Gunders

She is a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council and a co-author of a major 2013 Harvard report detailing the massive problem with these dates.

她是自然資源保護委員會的資深科學家，也是 2013 年一份詳述這些日期的重大問題的哈佛重要報告的合著者

American trash over one hundred and sixty billion pounds of perfectly good food every year, roughly 40 percent of our food supply is thrown out, and these confusing dates are a huge factor.

美國人每年丟掉 1 千 600 億磅完好無缺的食物，大概是 40% 的食物被丟掉，而這些令人感到困惑的日期就是個重要因素。

One survey found that 83 percent of Americans have prematurely thrown out food based on the sell-by date, but that date isn't even meant for consumers.

一份調查發現，83% 的美國人會基於保質期限的理由，而過早丟掉食物，但那些日期甚至不是給消費者看的

It just tells stores when to turn over their inventory.

它只是要告訴店家何時要周轉他們的存貨

Wait, sell by today? But I bought it today...

等等，保質期限到今天？我今天才買耶

Well...

好吧

This is ridiculous. Someone should do something.

這太荒唐了，應該要有人站出來做一些事

Well, some leaders in the grocery industry are pushing for clearer, simpler labels, but until there's a nationally mandated system, their recommendations are just voluntary.

有些食品業的頭頭正在推行更清楚、簡單的標籤，但在成為具強制力的國家制度之前，他們的建議都只是自願發起的行動而已

And the worst part is we're trashing all this perfectly good food while millions are going hungry.

最糟糕的是我們在丟棄完好的食物的同時，有數百萬人正在挨餓

Wow! That one's alive. All of these is gotta go.

哇！那裡還有個倖存者，這些都要丟掉

No, I am still good.

不，我還很好