Although in reality this is nothing more than a worthy objective.
Hi Simon,
Its a very vast subject. Mind you, being
HACCP Certified and compliant does not make your food any safer than the bloke who does the same product in a shack if the controls are not functionally in place.......example, as evident in "Exhibit A and Kr_ft Foods"
To suggest that all foods are guaranteed safe from a
HACCP-Certified facility is utter rubbish. Having a
HACCP Food Safety System merely suggests that you have identified the critical hazards and hopefully, the pre-determined controls to monitor their "behaviours" show that you are at the front seats.
So what is the purpose of an "expiry date" when even an operating
food safety system itself may be in question.
That depends on the product that you are referring to. Most products with a 1-year expiry date would have lost its "functional/marketable values" say within 14 days but remain safe to eat/drink thoughout its indicative product lifespan. Example - Your Bottle of Lager Beer is probably good for only 14 days (Franco, will you please verify) if you wish to drink one that has "body". But, generally after 14 days, most of the carbon dioxide that makes it "carbonated" would have "micro-leaked out".............and that, my friend is when you complain to the Bartender that your beer tasted FLAT.....but does it mean that it is not safe (Not True).....it is safe but organoleptically it has failed.
Again, take the fruit jam for example. On the day of the 2-year expiry date, the bottle of jam was opened. Result was the gumming system of the pectin had deteriorated.........bottom line was the product was somewhat watery but still managed to spread over a bread or two however, it remained safe to eat.
Alternatively, the bottle of jam had mould growth after about 1 month from production date which is way before the expiry date............indicatively from the expiry date, it meant to be safe for consumption BUT the mould growth shows it is not safe at all.
So, an "expiry date" is nothing more than to inform the consumers that the product would meet all consumers' product expectations (organoleptic wise) within the time line. (Most post-expiry date products remain safe to eat).......I know I will get a lot of butt-kicking here but what the heck.
Which brings us back to "safe foods".............so what exactly is safe food and can we really safeguard our foods from ANYTHING tha may possibly cause it to be harmful to consumers?
Cheers
Charles Chew