Being a kid, some of the attractions at general stores are the tempting snacks they pile their shelves with, such as biscuits, cakes, chocolates, chips and all sorts of munchies that your eyes just can’t resist, and you want your hands to be full with them. They’re packed in colourful wrappers, with tempting graphics and whatnot, so it’s only natural for youngsters and adults to munch or gulp down those snacks without paying attention to something very crucial.

Or if not this, then has it ever occurred to you that the snack you bought doesn’t taste as good as last time? Or that it felt a bit off, but because you were thirsty or hungry, you just gulped it down anyway without giving a second thought?

The whole emphasis on the second thought is about checking whether the snack you bought falls under a healthy date, ‘Best Before’, ‘Use By,’ or not. If not, then it’s time to return it or tell the shopkeeper to discard it, and also be careful the next time you buy something.

Honestly, there are hardly any of us who bother to look around the packaging to see if we’re even supposed to be eating it or not. Most of the time, people just eat or drink while totally ignoring those small numbers indicating the crucial dates.

Checking the dates printed on packaged food is not just a formality — it’s a safety check. Those tiny words like “Best Before” or “Use By” can help you avoid food that might make you sick

You must remember that businesses are only concerned about making profit. They lure you to keep buying their stuff by putting artificial flavours, stabilisers and chemicals to make it taste better and also to make it last longer on the shelf. Those added chemicals suppress the food’s natural decaying condition for a certain time, not for ‘a lifetime’; these chemicals too have time limits during which they keep the........

© Dawn Young Magazine