Correct handling of foodstuffs for which the minimum durability date (MHD) has already been exceeded.

The manufacturer guarantees that food can be eaten without hesitation up to the stated shelf life. However, food producers are very cautious about this, as the law stipulates that they must guarantee the greatest possible safety for consumers. The actual shelf life is therefore often longer.

Consider the following points when considering whether an expired food can still be eaten

• Check appearance, smell and taste. You should take your time and know exactly what the food should be like. Beware of a cold!
• Is the food originally closed or in an already opened package? Foods that are industrially produced and originally packaged come from a very clean environment. Therefore, they are contaminated with only a few germs and last longer than those in opened packs. After opening, however, you should use up food as quickly as possible.
• Look at the properties of the food. Foods that are dry (flour, sugar, soup cubes, etc.), preserved (e.g. by high salt content such as anchovies, by high sugar content such as jam, etc.) or made long-lasting by heating (e.g. long-life milk, tins) do not spoil within days just because the shelf life has been exceeded. Animal products with a short shelf life (sliced sausage), on the other hand, are susceptible to spoilage and pathogens.
• Think about what you want to do with the food. When heated thoroughly, germs are reliably killed off. Therefore, eggs that look and smell normal can be cooked hard or used for baking even after the specified MHD without hesitation. However, such eggs should never be eaten raw, e.g. as tiramisu.
• Note that there are circumstances in life where you should be particularly careful. This is the case during pregnancy, with very young and very old people, with people who have serious illnesses or have to take medication that weakens the immune system. If one of these points applies to you, don't take any risks and follow the manufacturer's instructions!
• Do you suffer from a histamine degradation disorder? In this case you should consume protein-containing foods, even if they have a long shelf life, e.g. hard cheese (e.g. Parmesan), only with as long a shelf life as possible and never after the minimum shelf life.

These tips only apply to foods with a best-before date. Foods with a consumption date "to consume until..." should not be eaten after the date has expired!

Signs of spoilage

If only one characteristic applies, consumption is not recommended.

• Changes in smell and taste (rancid, mouldy, musty)
• Visible mould growth (throw away the entire product)
• Conspicuous consistency (moist, lumpy)
• greasy Surface
• discoloration, dried spots
• insect infestation
• Grating of containers / Lids
• Inflating containers / preserves (never open them or throw them away)
• freezer burn

Guidelines for shelf life

• When shopping: Perishable foods (fresh poultry meat, minced meat, fish, dairy products, etc.) should be transported home as quickly as possible after shopping. A warm car can help interrupt the cold chain. Therefore use cooling bags for delicate foods and frozen products.
• Store food at home according to the manufacturer's instructions.
• Clean the fridge regularly. The glass top above the vegetable compartment is the coldest place in the fridge. Store sensitive foods such as meat, fish or poultry in this area.
• The food must be visually inconspicuous.
• The packaging must not be opened or damaged.
• Fruit and vegetables should be unpacked from the foil. If left in the packaging, condensation can form which stimulates germ formation and can lead to mold growth.

Tips for avoiding food waste

• more economical. Do not go hungry shopping. Write a list before every purchase.
• Simply brush the rolls and pastries from the previous day with cold water and put them in the oven for about 10 minutes.Slice too much bread and freeze. Portionwise it can be baked in the toaster or in the oven.
• Freeze the butter in portions.
• Store separately: In addition to mould cheese, other cheese begins to mould more quickly. Apples release ethylene, which makes other types of fruit ripen faster. Therefore, store elsewhere.
• Hard cheese, which has dried but still smells good, can, for example, be grated and processed in a casserole. However, heat up well.
• Water test for eggs: How to do it - You can see how fresh a raw egg is by placing it in cold water. With increasing age the density decreases. If the egg goes under and remains flat on the ground, the egg is fresh. Slightly older eggs float in the water and should be processed and heated as soon as possible. Caution is advised when the egg is already floating on top or when the blunt tip protrudes from the water. In this case the egg is no longer suitable for consumption.

It is assumed that there are more than 100,000 different types of mould in the environment. In the course of evolution, humans have developed extensive resistance to fungi.

Mould fungus poisons (mycotoxins) belong to the strongest poisons occurring in nature. Not all moulds produce toxins. Nevertheless, several hundred mycotoxin-forming fungi and about 350 different toxins have been identified.

Even if the mould is cut out or spooned away, the food affected can be impaired. Possible poisons do not necessarily remain in the visible mold (fungus body), but can spread in the entire food. Large parts of a fungus are often invisible. The single hyphae, the thread-shaped cells of the fungus, are not to be recognized with free eye, can pull themselves however through the entire food. Without a suitable laboratory, it is not possible to detect toxin-forming moulds.

In summary it means therefore: mouldy food better to dispose in order to exclude a possible impairment of the health. Cooking is also no alternative due to the resistance of the poisons. Cutting away is to be recommended, if at all only with food such as bacon and hard cheese, at which the mold can grow only at the surface, (at least half a centimeter). If you want to be safe, it is better to dispose of mouldy food.

At home it is recommended to store food in a cool and dry place. Plastic foils should therefore be avoided, as condensation can form due to inadequate ventilation. Fruit and vegetables in particular are often sold packaged in plastic film. These films should be removed before storage in the refrigerator.

Focus on mould in sliced cheese ^(German)

Defrosted food should not be refrozen: Pathogens may have multiplied during thawing; freezer burn is bad for quality.

Pathogens: Many pathogens do not die at sub-zero temperatures and can multiply again after thawing. Particularly delicate in this respect are perishable foods such as raw meat and fish or raw milk products. If too much raw meat/fish has been defrosted, the food should be completely cooked before freezing again (at least 70 °C for 2 minutes in the core of the food).

Frozen spirit: When food is frozen, the water contained in the cells freezes to ice crystals and destroys the cell walls. During thawing, this ice crystal also thaws and the food loses water. This results in a loss of weight and the prepared food is drier than freshly prepared food.
When frozen again, the thawing water forms larger ice crystals that destroy even more cells; the food then shows dry spots, the so-called freezer burn.
Products that are offered frozen on the market are usually shock frozen. These foods are cooled to the desired storage temperature - 18 °C or lower - within a very short time. This rapid process keeps the cell walls intact (only very small ice crystals are formed) and food retains its consistency and other properties such as flavours etc. The food is stored at a temperature of -18 °C or lower.

Tips

• Transport: Transport frozen products in cool bags or containers so that the cold chain is not interrupted. Observe the instructions on the product packaging regarding storage temperature and shelf life.
• Freezing: Allow prepared food to cool before freezing so that no condensation forms in the freezer compartment. This would freeze and form large ice crystals on the food.
• Defrosting: Food should be defrosted in airtight containers in the refrigerator. Carefully remove defrost water and clean used kitchen utensils - knives, chopping boards and also hands - well with detergent or soap and hot water.
• Re-freezing: If too much raw meat/fish has been thawed, always cook thoroughly before freezing again (at least 70 °C for 2 minutes in the core of the food). This is the only way to ensure that all germs are killed.
• Freezing containers: For freezing in the household, use only materials suitable for freezing. These are freezer bags, plastic films or stackable plastic boxes with a tightly closing lid. Packing and parchment paper, plastic carrier bags or garbage bags as well as yoghurt or margarine cups and glasses that can break or splinter are unsuitable.