"Best By" generally imparts that the product will retain its best
flavor, color or consistency up through that particular date - but
it is safe to eat until after that date.
"Use by" is generally seen on packages of fresh foods like Milk or
meats, and really should be used by that particular date, or frozen by
that date if you need to keep it around longer. Fresh foods all have
bacteria within them and by the time the use by date has rolled around,
the fresh foods are no longer "fresh" but instead are heavily laden
with active bacteria and the bacteria are turning the foods into being
unsafe for HUMAN consumption.
"Expires by" depends upon the product. Medicines and even toothpaste
and deodorant have expiration dates. Most medicines can be used past
their expiration date - but have lost some efficacy. I tend to buy
toothpaste when its on special 2 for one tubes and being a single adult
house hold (without kids to smear the walls with the toothpaste) these
two tubes last a VERY VERY long time. Much to the consternation of some
folks - I am still here although I keep using expired toothpaste and
yes, even expired deodorants!
"Sell by" dates are self explanatory and geared of course to retailers
to rotate their stock.
When it comes to pet foods - there aren't that many regulations (which
is why the FDA wants the AAFCO to take over and establish some).
Most kibbles are designed with about a year shelf life. But some of the
"higher end" kibbles use a much shorter shelf life. This is usually
tied to the fat content and moisture content of the kibble. Fats WILL
go rancid, especially when stored improperly. Higher moisture contents
allow faster bacteria activity.
There are all manner of ways to increase the "life" of foods - BHA,
BHT are chemical additives that offer longer shelf life but have been
linked to health problems, Citric Acid helps retain flavor retards
discoloration and waylays some bacteria activity.
Freezing puts bacterial activity in suspension but the freezing alters
the cell walls of the food so when thawed the bacteria have an easier
job to invade. Which means you need to use the food quickly after
thawing. What may have kept a week to ten days refrigerated fresh,
may only last a few days after thawing before bacteria turn it.
Pasteurization puts foods at a very high temperature for specific time
lengths, in effect flash cooking the bacteria currently present on or
in the food.
Freeze drying removes the moisture from food at the same time freezing
the remaining fibers rendering a product with VERY long shelf life that
to be used can either be eaten as is or reconstituted with water to be
cooked. Flavor is somewhat diminished though and textures get rather
interesting after reconstitution.
Air drying (dehydrating) removes the food's moisture by long slow low
heat or forced air method and also renders a product with a very long
shelf life. Most people are familiar with jerky - which is usually
seasoned to taste prior to drying. While jerky does last a very long
time ( much longer than fresh meat) it too will eventually succumb to
bacteria and molds.
All this natural decay of fresh food is one reason kibble was invented.
Interestingly there is a definite trend for kibble manufacturers to
become more "natural" and supposedly add "real meat sources" or "bits"
- so shelf life of kibble is shortening and kibbles will turn. Kibble
can also suffer from infestations of mites, moths, meal worms, meal
bugs, ants, roaches and other pests.This in addition to molds, fungi,
salmonella, and other bacteria. Problem is kibble already starts out
with a yucky smell so with odor being one of the quickest ways to
notice if a food has turned - you could feed turned kibble without
realizing its gone bad. Your pet may not eat the turned kibble right
away, but will eventually when hunger demands. Now you've ended up
serving who knows what that went IN to the kibble topped off with who
knows what invading the kibble and poor snug 'ems has to eat the junk!
Ewwww!
If you are feeding just a few pets it isn't necessary to buy a 40 lb
bag of kibble unless you can store that in a freezer. I'd recommend
storing kibble in a freezer any way. Air tight containers may sound
nice, but every time you open it air gets in - right? Also I have yet
to see a vacuum packed kibble bag - so putting it in an air tight
container at home isn't going to do much to preserve what was in the
bag already. Mix together what you'll feed in a week. Store the
remainder in the freezer. Put your week's mix in a container and keep
it in the fridge.
Personally I say end the confusion and simply feed raw/ natural/ whole
prey - the USE by date is clearly marked on that package of fresh
meat - or you may even know when the food animal was slaughtered. No
chemicals, no issues with storage, supreme digestibility, safe, superb
oral health and easy clean up from the ferret's other end!
Cheers,
Kim
For ferret help and info:
http://holisticferret.proboards60.com/index.cgi
http://ferretopia.proboards51.com/index.cgi
yahoo groups Natural Ferrets
[Posted in FML 7376]
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