I cant help but think expiration dates in Japan are a scam

[Macoleco]

Expiration dates of food in Japan are TOO SHORT. Usually around 3-4 days, sometimes even 1 or 2. This includes all kinds of meats, bread, yogurts, everything. A few exceptions are eggs and rice (for obvious reasons). For example, bread loaf is only sold in packages of 6, and they usually expire in 2 or 3 days. Not even enough for a week. 

And I cant help but think this is a strategy to make people consume more. It forces people to go to the supermarket every few days, pay more or the same for less quantity, and waste more food or eat it even if you dont want to. It also encourages people to buy more ready to go food, which trust me, there is plenty everywhere... I feel this is some sort of late stage capitalism scheme... Also there is a tendency in Japan to make everything small. Yet the price is the same as an other country. I am very disappointed in this regard...

I was told by a roomate that if could be good quality control, but, unless there is a scientific reason which justifies such short expiration dates, it is a scam.

What do you guys think?

[arewethereyet]

Maybe they don't use as many preservatives as they do in the US for example.

There is food here that seems to last forever.

[Macoleco]

Maybe they don't use as many preservatives as they do in the US for example.

There is food here that seems to last forever.

Souns like the logical, but unfortunately it seems Japan allows companies to use a lot of additives in their food, including many prohibited in Europe. 

Which is strange since everything expires so fast.

[arewethereyet]

I was just guessing...maybe they shop differently there. Here people tend to shop for a whole week. In many other countries it seems like picking up groceries is nearly a daily thing.

[The Grand Nudger]

Best by dates reflect a whole lot of things - from actual freshness to quality to concerns about bizarre (if rare) health risks...to, sure, marketing. You probably wont expire from eating expired foods..but that risk is only so statistically low because of expiry dates. Complicated relationship.

[Macoleco]

Best by dates reflect a whole lot of things - from actual freshness to quality to concerns about bizarre (if rare) health risks...to, sure, marketing.  You probably wont expire from eating expired foods..but that risk is only so statistically low because of expiry dates.  Complicated relationship.

Nice comment about expiration food in general, but does not answer my question.

[The Grand Nudger]

I mean, I think it does. Bread, for example, can go stale in 72 hours. That's 72 hours from it being made....not from when you buy it. Some can last a week. That means that the first production batches in the morning that wait until enough bread is made to load a truck probably won't end up -in- that truck until the afternoon. That truck, if it leaves that afternoon, often won't be unloaded till the next morning, at a regional distributor, who might then get it on a smaller van for point delivery, and then they have to stock the shelves....and then you come along..maybe not the same day it was stocked.

That you get bread with two or three days left till it reaches expiry is actually a testament to how efficient the delivery system is.

It gets even wilder for fresh foods. Tomatoes are a master class in distribution tradeoffs, for example, that have a huge effect on the end products quality and how long it might last. All this stuff creates the base numbers that the japanese three point system is applied to. Massive food waste is a result, as are programs to collect and distribute food outside of the limits of the system.

[Macoleco]

I mean, I think it does. Bread, for example, can go stale in 72 hours. That's 72 hours from it being made....not from when you buy it. Some can last a week. That means that the first production batches in the morning that wait until enough bread is made to load a truck probably won't end up -in- that truck until the afternoon. That truck, if it leaves that afternoon, often won't be unloaded till the next morning, at a regional distributor, who might then get it on a smaller van for point delivery, and then they have to stock the shelves....and then you come along..maybe not the same day it was stocked.

That you get bread with two or three days left till it reaches expiry is actually a testament to how efficient the delivery system is.

It gets even wilder for fresh foods. Tomatoes are a master class in distribution tradeoffs, for example, that have a huge effect on the end products quality and how long it might last. All this stuff creates the base numbers that the japanese three point system is applied to.

On my country bread loaf is usually sold in packages of 20-25 and last long. Same with meats as long as they are in the freezer. Many vegetables and fruits can be bought before they are consumable. Bananas for example, can be bought while they are green. Wait a few days and eat them. Here they only sell bananas ready to go. One day and it’s bad. Yogurts also last for over a week and are sold in liter bottles. Here only small packages that last a few days.

[The Grand Nudger]

Everything lasts longer in the freezer - best by and expiry dates are completely irrelevant in that case.....but now you're taking up cubic inches of space and using energy. The producers often don't - because of those two reasons - and whatever amount of days you have left till it expires you will have fewer than that once you thaw it - and that..is just accepting the loss in quality from freezing it.

Bananas are a modern miracle. Your green bananas have already been in a bag for 12 weeks before they're harvested. They get harvested once a week, on average, and then processed in a cold bath. Then they're hand loaded into boxes, and those boxes are loaded onto a reefer. Those are shipped all over the world, thousands of miles in some cases. When they get wherever they're going they're unloaded into ripening storage where they sit for up to a week to turn yellow. Then....they make it to store shelves.

Stone green bananas, like stone green tomatoes, are one harvest and distribution strategy.