08.26.26 Food Tossed Is Money Lost / Couples Currency: Best Practices
The Clark Howard Podcast
Clark Howard discusses the widespread issue of food waste, highlighting how consumers often discard edible food due to misunderstood expiration dates. He emphasizes that many
Key takeaways
- Many food expiration labels are marketing-driven rather than safety-related; 'best by' dates don't mean the food is unsafe after that date.
- Unopened canned foods, UHT plant-based milks, and dry staples can remain safe for years past their labeled dates.
Main topics
- Food waste and expiration date misconceptions
- Safe consumption of long-dated canned and packaged foods
Notable quotes
'There are ways for you to save—you may not have thought about.'
'The new Honda City isn't just made to drive, it's made to feel.'
Conclusion
Clark Howard encourages listeners to rethink expiration dates on food, avoid
Transcript preview
Speaker 1 (0:00) When the world keeps shifting, we're there to help you act with confidence. At HSBC, we bring together the people, ideas, and capital that drive growth, backing your ambitions at every stage. So when you're preparing for the next generation, strengthening your portfolio, or you're entering new markets, we're there, bringing 160 years of experience to help you move forward. HSBC. Opening up a world of opportunity. Speaker 5 (0:34) The Speaker 4 (0:35) city moves fast, but your vibe, that's different. Sharper, smoother, more alive. Speaker 6 (0:45) The new Speaker 4 (0:50) Honda City isn't just made to drive, it's made to feel. The new Honda City, all new vibe. Speaker 2 (1:03) It's great to be here with you on the Clark Howard Show. Our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you so you make better financial decisions in your life. And I'm going to begin today's show with something every single one of us pays for, food. And then we throw out somewhere close to 40 % of the food we buy uneaten. Now, there are ways for you to save. you may not have thought about. And also, if you're part of a couple, do I have a special assignment for you coming up later in today's podcast and YouTube show? So, ready for something gross? My son was on a flight recently and was served some food that clearly had spoiled and he didn't eat it. And the same day I saw a video on YouTube with this YouTuber who does airline flight reviews. And he was in business class on a European airline and was served a meal. And on the meal, It had the date the meal was packaged, which happened to be 13 months ago. And in this prepackaged food, there was a yogurt. And he's got video of taking his spoon and trying to punch it into the yogurt that had congealed into, I don't know, almost like something you could use as a construction material because he couldn't even get the spoon through. the yogurt. And think about it. It had been sitting there in some catering kitchen for 13 months. Yuck, right? But sometimes we think something's not good when it's absolutely fine, regardless of what date is on it. And so with food costs having gone up, up, up and away over the last seven years, I wanted to talk about how we prematurely throw out stuff all the time. And I want to tell you, there's two kinds of dates on food. One is a marketing date that basically is to try to get you to prematurely throw things out. And it's under this crazy... made up kind of thing where they're only guaranteeing the quality of the food to that date. And that'll be things that there are a bunch of terms that companies use. The most well-known is best by or used by are the two most common dates. But there are other things that I've seen stamped on things. I saw an AP story of terms they saw best if used by, enjoy by. sell by and it goes on and on and on with the marketing labels put on things and then there are items like that yogurt that i saw the same day my son he was texting me from the airplane about the food being just way not good and then i see the video and send it to him of the guy with the congealed yogurt that was served to him 13 months old So with food, just because it has a date on it, you got to look at that and see what it is and see if that's a date you need to respond to or not. If it is something that's dairy, that date matters a lot, right? If it's something, in fact, it was a thing from food scientists about what foods are good year after year after year, unopened canned food. can go on way, way, way, way, way years past the date on the label. How about boxes of soy milks in, almond milks in? Those things are crazy expensive to buy, right? But if they're in those UHT boxes, they're good for year after year after year, even without refrigeration. Beans, tomatoes, fruit, vegetables, any of the things that are in. canned packaging are good for many, many, many, many years. That's why people that are survivalists will have stuff like that in inventory if the end of the world comes or whatever it is that they're surviving. So these things are ways that you can keep money in your wallet instead of throwing it away. Now, Krista, what do you think about, I think you would start dry heaving. If I showed you the YouTube video of the yogurt served on a plane, 13 months. That's Speaker 3 (6:01) pretty gross. That's pretty gross. Although I can handle it because I remember when my kids were little, I found sippy cups under the seats that had been in there for a long, long time. Talk about spoiled yogurt. You know, they had milk in them or something. You're just trying to figure out where the smell was coming from. Did that ever happen to you when your kids were little? Speaker 2 (6:21) Yeah. Well, there was a lot of. We had a minivan. Me too. And I remember taking it in to have it detailed once because the kids had just turned it into a rolling trash pit. Sure. And I had tried to do it myself and I was like, no, I'm done. And I had to pay extra. Oh, yeah. For the interior detail. Well, it was a minivan and they had a special price for that. Speaker 3 (6:49) Yeah. You know what the amazing thing is? Have you seen the videos people do? Or there was even Morgan Spurlock did that whole thing, Super Size Me, that if you have like McDonald's, it looks the same after like 10 years. It doesn't spoil. That's Speaker 2 (7:04) really telling. Well, see, if you eat a lot of food with preservatives. Right. I mean, think about it. I mean, it's really a great thing. It preserves you, right? That's the key. Yeah. Speaker 3 (7:14) You're so smart. You're always ahead of everybody else. So how Speaker 2 (7:19) do you handle this with the dates on things? Speaker 3 (7:22) I mean, I'm pretty careful with dates. The one thing is eggs. I've always heard you can keep longer. But yeah, canned foods. I never worry about that. I really sort of buy my food like I really try to buy it. when I'm about to make it or eat it. So I don't want to. Speaker 1 (7:37) Well, Speaker 3 (7:38) I think they have it right with that. I really do. Cause I used to just have to throw away a lot of food and I hate doing that. It feels like such a waste. And I have more time in my life now because my kids are no longer in the minivan and they're out of the house. And so I have more time Speaker 2 (7:52) to do that. And Speaker 3 (7:52) you don't Speaker 2 (7:52) even Speaker 3 (7:52) own a Speaker 2 (7:53) minivan. I Speaker 3 (7:54) don't own a minivan anymore, but it was sure great when I had it. All right. Well, you're ready for some questions to come your way? Speaker 2 (8:01) Sure am. Okay. Speaker 3 (8:02) Todd in Washington sent this one. I had a complete roof replacement in March. I had three estimates and I went with a company that had recently completed my neighbor's roof replacement. For both