1-1 Food expiration dates don’t mean what you think

Question 1

0:07
How much of the food in your fridge will you toss before it reaches the table?

Answer 1

0:07
你冰箱中有多少食品在被 送上桌之前就會被你丟掉？

Question 2

0:11
Hamburger buns from last summer’s picnic? Milk past its sell-by date? Carrots that lost their crunch?

Answer 2

0:11
去年夏天野餐留下的漢堡麵包？過了保質日期的牛奶？已經不脆的胡蘿蔔？

Question 3

0:18
Countries around the world waste huge amounts of food every year,and the United States is one of the worst offenders.

Answer 3

0:18
每年，世界各地的國家 浪費了大量的食品，而美國是浪費最嚴重的國家之一。

Question 4

0:27
37% of US food waste comes from individual households.

Answer 4

0:27
美國的食品浪費有 37%來自於個人家戶。

Question 5

0:33
And roughly 20% of those food items are tossed because consumers aren’t sure how to interpret the dates they’re labeled with.

Answer 5

0:33
那些食品中有 20% 被丟棄的 原因是因為消費者不確定如何詮釋食品上標示的日期。

Question 6

0:41
But most of those groceries are still perfectly safe to eat.

Answer 6

0:41
但那些食品大部分 仍然完全可以安心食用。

Question 7

0:45
So if the dates on our food don’t tell us that something’s gone bad,what do they tell us?

Answer 7

0:45
那麼，如果食品上的日期 並非告訴我們食物何時壞掉，那它們要傳遞的資訊是什麼？

Question 8

0:52
Before the 20th century,the path between where food was produced and where it was eaten was much more direct,and most people knew how to assess freshness using sight, smell, and touch.

Answer 8

0:52
在二十世紀以前，從食品被生產的地方到食品 被吃掉的地方之間的路徑更直接許多，且大部分人能從外觀、 味道，和觸感來評估新鮮度。

Question 9

1:04
But when supermarkets began stocking processed foods,product ages became harder to gauge.

Answer 9

1:04
但當超級市場開始銷售加工食品，就越來越難估計產品放了多久。

Question 10

1:11
In the US, grocers used packaging codes
to track how long food had been on the shelves,and in the 1970s, consumers demanded in on that info.

Answer 10

1:11
在美國，雜貨業者會用包裝上的代碼 來追蹤食物上架了多久，在1970年代，消費者 要求獲得這些資訊。

Question 11

1:22
Many supermarkets adopted a system still in place today called open dating,where food manufacturers or retailers labeled products with dates indicating optimum freshness.

Answer 11

1:22
許多超級市場採用了一種 至今仍在使用的系統，叫做公開標註日期，食品製造商或零售商 要在產品上標示日期，說明最佳新鮮度。

Question 12

1:34
This vague metric had nothing to do with expiration dates or food safety.

Answer 12

1:34
這種模糊的指標，和過期日期 或食品安全完全無關。

Question 13

1:39
In fact, it’s rarely decided with any scientific backing,and there are usually no rules around what dates to use.

Answer 13

1:39
事實上，決定這些日期的方式 背後也很少有科學根據，通常也沒有規則規定要用什麼日期。

Question 14

1:47
So most manufacturers and retailers are motivated to set these dates early,ensuring customers will taste their food at its best and come back for more.

Answer 14

1:47
所以，大部分的製造商和零售商 會想要把日期設早一點，確保客人會在食品狀況 最佳的時候品嚐它們，並再回購更多。

Question 15

1:58
This means many foods are safe to eat far beyond their labeled dates.

Answer 15

1:58
這表示許多食品在其標示日期 過後許久還可以安心食用。

Question 16

2:04
Old cookies, pasta, and other shelf-stable groceries might taste stale,but they aren’t a health risk.

Answer 16

2:04
放久的餅干、義大利麵， 和其他能長時間保存的食品可能吃起來會不新鮮，但不會造成健康風險。

Question 17

2:12
Canned foods can stay safe for years,so long as they don’t show signs of bulging or rusting.

Answer 17

2:12
罐裝食品保存數年都很安全，只要罐子沒有凸起或生鏽即可。

Question 18

2:18
Low freezer temperatures keep bacteria that cause food poisoning in check,preserving properly stored frozen dinners indefinitely.

Answer 18

2:18
低溫冷凍庫能抑制 會造成食物中毒的細菌，只要有正確儲存，冷凍晚餐 就能夠永久保存下去。

Question 19

2:26
Refrigerated eggs are good for up to five weeks,and if they spoil, your nose will let you know.

Answer 19

2:26
冷藏雞蛋保存五週後都還很好，如果腐壞了，你可以聞得出來。

Question 20

2:32
And you can always spot spoiled produce by off odors, slimy surfaces, and mold.

Answer 20

2:32
你通常可以用這些方式 辨識腐壞的農產品：異味、黏稠的表面，及霉菌。

Question 21

2:38
Of course, there are some cases where you’re better safe than sorry.

Answer 21

2:39
當然，在某些情況下， 你會寧可安全第一。

Question 22

2:42
The USDA recommends eating or freezing meat within days of purchase.

Answer 22

2:42
美國農業部建議肉類在購買後 幾天內就要吃掉或冷凍起來。

Question 23

2:47
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.

Answer 23

2:47
若超過標示日期，即食沙拉、熟食肉類， 以及未經巴氏消毒的乳酪比較可能會帶有致病細菌，靠嗅覺或味覺測試可能 無法發現這些細菌。

Question 24

2:59
And the dates on infant formula are regulated to indicate safety.

Answer 24

2:59
嬰兒配方奶粉所標示的日期 則受法規管制必須代表安全性。

Question 25

3:03
But while some of these labels work as intended, the vast majority don’t.

Answer 25

3:03
雖然有些標示能發揮預期作用，但大部分不能。

Question 26

3:08
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.

Answer 26

3:08
在 2019 年一項針對一千多名 美國人做的研究中，超過 70% 的受訪者說 他們會用日期標示來判斷食品是否還能食用，近 60% 的受訪者說他們會把 超過這些日期的食品丟棄。

Question 27

3:23
Restaurants and grocers often do the same.

Answer 27

3:23
餐廳和雜貨業者通常也會這麼做。

Question 28

3:26
To avoid all this waste, many experts advocate for laws to require that date labels use one of two standardized phrases:“Best if used by,” to indicate freshness, or “Use by” to indicate safety.

Answer 28

3:26
為了避免這種浪費， 許多專家主張立法要求日期標示必須要用 這兩種標準措詞之一：「最佳賞味期限」來說明新鮮度，或「賞味期限」來說明安全性。

Question 29

3:41
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.

Answer 29

3:41
這個解決方案並不完美，但有些美國研究者估計， 在聯邦層級制定這些標準每年就能預防大約三十九萬 八千公噸的食物浪費。

Question 30

3:53
Grocers could also try removing date labels on produce,as several UK supermarket chains have done to encourage consumers to use their own judgement.

Answer 30

3:53
雜貨業者也可以試著除去 農產品上的日期標示，英國有好幾家超級市場 連鎖店都這麼做，旨在鼓勵消費者自己做判斷。

Question 31

4:03
Many experts also advocate for policies incentivizing grocers and restaurants to donate unsold food.

Answer 31

4:03
許多專家還主張制定政策 來獎勵雜貨業者和餐廳捐出沒有賣出的食品。

Question 32

4:10
Currently, confusion around dates has led at least 20 US states to restrict donating food past its labeled date,even though the federal government actually protects such donations.

Answer 32

4:10
目前，因為日期造成的困惑， 已經導致美國至少有二十州限制捐贈已過標示日期的食品，即使聯邦政府其實 是有保護這類捐贈的。

Question 33

4:22
Countries like France go even further,requiring that many supermarkets donate unsold food.

Answer 33

4:22
法國這類國家還更進一步，要求許多超級市場必須要 捐出未賣出的食品。

Question 34

4:29
Regardless of what your government decides,the best way to prevent food waste is to eat what you buy!

Answer 34

4:29
不論你的政府做出怎樣的決定，預防食物浪費的最佳方式， 就是吃掉你購買的食物。

Question 35

4:35
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.

Answer 35

4:35
別忘了，你有眼睛、鼻子， 和舌頭，通常這些就足以協助你判斷食物 是適合進到肚子還是廚餘桶。