12 non-obvious rules for buying products that only experts know about

Everyone knows that when shopping for food, you need to look at the expiration date. However, as practice shows, this alone is very little - you need to pay attention to other, sometimes not very obvious things.

The site has looked at tips on what to look for when going to the supermarket and is sharing them with you.

The shelf life depends on the product category





How the shelf life of a product is indicated on the label depends on how long it can be stored for. So, on products with a shelf life of up to 72 hours, the time, day and month must be indicated. For products stored from 72 hours to 30 days - day, month and year. And finally, on a product whose shelf life is calculated in months - a month and a year.

Incorrect price tags





If the amount shown on the check is too different from your calculations, do not hesitate to take another look at the value of the item in the window. Often, sellers simply forget to remove the wrong price tag and you buy a product at a different price than you expected .

GOST does not guarantee quality





Modern GOSTs often do not regulate the amount of certain ingredients in the same sausage or sausages, but only indicate a certain salt or protein content.

In addition, the inscription "GOST" can only indicate that according to it, only the packaging was made, and not the product contained in it. Sometimes unscrupulous manufacturers write GOSTs, as they say, at random, misleading the buyer. However, there are those who strictly follow the approved standards and produce a truly high-quality product.

Expired products are not allowed to be sold





You can often find in stores a product with a big discount, the expiration date of which expired yesterday. Despite the fact that with proper storage, the product most likely did not become unusable, it is illegal to sell it in stores.

Storage conditions are as important as shelf life





Even if the shelf life of the product has not yet expired, be sure to pay attention to the storage conditions written on its label. If they are not respected, then even not expired goods may become unusable for food. When buying goods stored in a refrigerated or freezer display case, pay attention to the temperature inside them. It is indicated either on the display of the refrigerator, or on an alcohol thermometer lying on one of the shelves.

Perishable food must be locally sourced





When buying a product with a short shelf life, you need to pay attention to the place of its production: the closer it is to the store, the more likely it is to buy a fresh and high-quality product.

Organic or natural?





As you know, the cost of organic products is much higher than natural ones. The inscription “organic”, which guarantees that no GMOs, synthetic pesticides and other unnatural substances and animal feed were used in the production, also indicates that the manufacturer has passed special certification. Natural products, too, as a rule, are produced without all of the above - often the only difference is that the manufacturer has not yet received the appropriate certificate.

Production date or packaging date?





Selling the goods cut in the store itself, sellers sometimes go for tricks and instead of the date of manufacture of the product put the cutting date on the label. Of course, shops are obliged to indicate on the labels what date is indicated on them, but in practice this does not always work. Therefore, if you have any doubts, you should ask the seller for documents for this product.

The shelf life of frozen food does not guarantee quality





Frozen foods that stick together, such as vegetables or cutlets, indicate that they have been repeatedly thawed and frozen, which means they are not suitable for eating.

Label - Important Document



The label should contain not only complete information about the composition of the product, its nutritional value, shelf life, but also information about its manufacturer. Moreover, not only the legal address of the company producing this or that product should be indicated, but also the address of the actual production of the product. In addition, all dates should be spelled out clearly and clearly - if the numbers are vague, then, most likely, they have been changed, and, possibly, more than once.

Discounts on expiring items



Often in stores they make big discounts on goods whose expiration date ends tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. You can buy such products, but you should pay attention to the conditions of their storage , and immediately eat them.

12 hour rule for prepackaged goods and salads





And one more rule for meat, cheese and fish cuts made in stores: the period for their sale is no more than 12 hours from the moment of packaging. The same goes for ready-made salads dressed with mayonnaise.



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