Dr. Kate Parizeau, professor in the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences, spoke to The Canadian Press about the best-before dates that often accompany food items.

Parizeau said the expiry dates only really apply to food where the nutritional value could degrade over a period of time.

“A lot of people think that best-before dates are expiry dates, when there are actually very few products in Canada that have a proper expiry date,” she said.

Food scientist Dr. Keith Warriner, professor in the Ontario Agricultural College, also spoke to several CBC Radio afternoon shows about the same topic.

He said dates listed on fresh meats and fish are based on food safety science while dates on canned and boxed foods are more of a guide to freshness than an issue of food safety.

Parizeau, a professor in the Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, studies food waste and waste management practices.

Warriner is a professor in the Department of Food Science who studies food-borne illness prevention.