At a time when New Yorkers are watching their grocery bills go up and up, Albany is leaving a commonsense solution sitting on the table. The Food Date Labelling Act could help families like yours save hundreds or even thousands of dollars on food you waste every year. It’s an easy win for every New York household, and the Legislature should get it passed this spring.

Walk into any grocery store and you'll see a confusing mix of labels: "sell by," "best by" and "shelved on." Most people assume these are safety warnings, and that the food isn’t safe to eat if the date is in the past. 

But that’s not always true. In fact, it usually isn’t. Most kinds of food are safe long after the dates on their packages, even if they’re not quite as fresh as when they were sold. In many cases, they don’t even taste any different. A carton of yogurt kept in the fridge can be perfectly safe for weeks past the sell-by date. Cabinet........

© lohud.com