3 ms·

Does food in the US not go off? The limiting factor for me isn't the size of my fridge, but the fact that after a week all my vegetables are looking sad and my

Does food in the US not go off? The limiting factor for me isn't the size of my fridge, but the fact that after a week all my vegetables are looking sad and my milk's starting to smell. I probably wish my fridge was bigger a handful of days a year - and that's because I'm having a party and need to squeeze in more wine and beer. Quite a lot of my fridge is taken up with random jars that I'll probably never eat. A bigger fridge would just enable more of those.

PeterisP 3y ago
Having lived on both sides of the pond, you'd tend to buy different kinds of products, in USA the grocery variety pushes you towards less fresh/spoiling products and more towards various processed products which will up a fridge for weeks. And also actually food in US does somehow seem to last for longer, as probably the manufacturers anticipate this need and optimize for that (as there's no free lunch, likely at the expense of other factors); I'd never ever buy a half-gallon of milk in a single container in EU because it would start to go bad by the time I get to the end of it, but in USA that was fine.
- saiya-jin 3y ago
  Which begs the question - what not-yet-in-the-spotlight chemical crap makes this happen? Since ingredients are the same, devices are the same yet they last longer as you mention. Maybe something about vastly different food quality standards between the sides of the pond.
  - stateofinquiry 3y ago
    There are many factors the general public is not aware of but that play a major role in food shelf life; the whole field of "food technology" is pretty amazing and under appreciated. Chemical treatments are not the only factor- in terms of fresh commodities (fruits and vegetable) varieties grown play a big role; so too might post-harvest treatments such as irradiation (might be for phytosanitary reasons, but often can extend shelf life if the commodity can withstand it and remain high quality), nano particle coatings that reduce water loss and spoilage.. these are just a few of the things that are going on "behind the scenes" to make our food last longer and reduce food waste. If you would like to learn more here is a good review on physical treatments specifically for cereal crops: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5920410/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5920410/ . There is an awful lot that goes into "food quality", and there are important trade offs with every choice.
  - derwiki 3y ago
    We buy lactose free milk because it lasts much longer
    - account42 3y ago
      How long do your need to store your milk? Regular UHT milk is already good for months.
      - derwiki 3y ago
        Interesting. Our regular milk would turn sour after maybe 3-4 weeks. Maybe it was something else making it turn.
- TeMPOraL 3y ago
  > And also actually food in US does somehow seem to last for longer, as probably the manufacturers anticipate this need and optimize for that (as there's no free lunch, likely at the expense of other factors); Probably taste, at least anecdotally - every single person from my side of the world that visited the US that I talked to, mentions the food there tastes just bland in general - and that's both veggies and highly-processed foods.
croes 3y ago
I doubt that things like american cheese can even rot.
screye 3y ago
> Does food in the US not go off? Sadly, you're right. It doesn't. In my experience, american fridges contain products that do not perish as easily. Lots of frozen goods and processed foods. Even the fresh foods seem to last longer out here. Milk lives for 2 weeks, their bread is unkillable and longer lasting greens (Kale) are more popular.
jabroni_salad 3y ago
>after a week where I live the groceries are in the next town over and most people I know go once a week. At the end of the week you have improvised casserole to get rid of anything that is on the verge of funkiness. Always keep some amount of frozen and shelf stable in reserve as well. I also do canning out of my garden and that stuff will last for ages.

PeterisP 3y ago

Having lived on both sides of the pond, you'd tend to buy different kinds of products, in USA the grocery variety pushes you towards less fresh/spoiling products and more towards various processed products which will up a fridge for weeks. And also actually food in US does somehow seem to last for longer, as probably the manufacturers anticipate this need and optimize for that (as there's no free lunch, likely at the expense of other factors); I'd never ever buy a half-gallon of milk in a single container in EU because it would start to go bad by the time I get to the end of it, but in USA that was fine.

saiya-jin 3y ago
Which begs the question - what not-yet-in-the-spotlight chemical crap makes this happen? Since ingredients are the same, devices are the same yet they last longer as you mention. Maybe something about vastly different food quality standards between the sides of the pond.
- stateofinquiry 3y ago
  There are many factors the general public is not aware of but that play a major role in food shelf life; the whole field of "food technology" is pretty amazing and under appreciated. Chemical treatments are not the only factor- in terms of fresh commodities (fruits and vegetable) varieties grown play a big role; so too might post-harvest treatments such as irradiation (might be for phytosanitary reasons, but often can extend shelf life if the commodity can withstand it and remain high quality), nano particle coatings that reduce water loss and spoilage.. these are just a few of the things that are going on "behind the scenes" to make our food last longer and reduce food waste. If you would like to learn more here is a good review on physical treatments specifically for cereal crops: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5920410/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5920410/ . There is an awful lot that goes into "food quality", and there are important trade offs with every choice.
- derwiki 3y ago
  We buy lactose free milk because it lasts much longer
  - account42 3y ago
    How long do your need to store your milk? Regular UHT milk is already good for months.
    - derwiki 3y ago
      Interesting. Our regular milk would turn sour after maybe 3-4 weeks. Maybe it was something else making it turn.
TeMPOraL 3y ago
> And also actually food in US does somehow seem to last for longer, as probably the manufacturers anticipate this need and optimize for that (as there's no free lunch, likely at the expense of other factors); Probably taste, at least anecdotally - every single person from my side of the world that visited the US that I talked to, mentions the food there tastes just bland in general - and that's both veggies and highly-processed foods.

croes 3y ago

I doubt that things like american cheese can even rot.

screye 3y ago

> Does food in the US not go off? Sadly, you're right. It doesn't. In my experience, american fridges contain products that do not perish as easily. Lots of frozen goods and processed foods. Even the fresh foods seem to last longer out here. Milk lives for 2 weeks, their bread is unkillable and longer lasting greens (Kale) are more popular.

jabroni_salad 3y ago

>after a week where I live the groceries are in the next town over and most people I know go once a week. At the end of the week you have improvised casserole to get rid of anything that is on the verge of funkiness. Always keep some amount of frozen and shelf stable in reserve as well. I also do canning out of my garden and that stuff will last for ages.