(June 20, 2022 at 11:20 am)The Grand Nudger Wrote: 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.
