Fresh food doesn’t just taste better—it’s also packed with more nutrients and is safer to eat. Whether you’re shopping for fruits, vegetables, meat, or dairy, knowing how to identify freshness can save you from disappointment (or worse, a stomachache).
Thankfully, there are simple ways to make sure the food you buy is as fresh as possible. Let’s break it down by category, starting with general tips.
General Tips for Ensuring Freshness
Use Your Senses
Your nose and eyes are your best tools. Fragrant fruits, vibrant vegetables, and crisp greens are usually the freshest. Anything dull, mushy, or lacking in scent? Skip it.
Check Dates
Always inspect “best if used by” dates and grab the ones farthest from expiring. This gives you more time to enjoy your food before it goes bad.
Demand Freshness
Don’t settle for shriveled produce or limp greens. If the options look tired, ask for fresher stock or pick something else.
Return Spoiled Goods
If something you bought spoils way before it should, don’t just toss it. Grocery stores are typically responsible and will replace or refund the item.
Buy Local Produce
Local fruits and veggies often taste better because they’ve traveled less and spent less time in transit. For example, corn and tomatoes are at their best when sourced locally.
Label Long-Shelf-Life Items
Canned goods, spices, pasta, and rice can linger in your pantry for months. Mark the purchase date so older items are used first. This helps avoid accidental waste.
Shop Farmers Markets
For peak freshness, hit up a farmers market. Many vendors pick their produce the morning of the sale, so you’re getting it at its absolute best.
Identifying Freshness by Food Category
Fruits and Vegetables
Seasonality and Peak Freshness
Fruits and vegetables are available year-round, but they shine brightest during their natural growing season. For example:
- Fruits in Season:
- May: Sweet cherries.
- June to September: Raspberries, blueberries, peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, mangoes, melons, and grapes.
- September: Apples and pears.
- Vegetables in Season:
- Spring: Asparagus, artichokes, radishes, peas, sugar snaps.
- Summer: Peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, summer squashes, okra, corn, tomatoes, snap beans, eggplants.
- Year-round staples: Leaf lettuce, broccoli, scallions, celery, carrots, cabbage, and avocados.
Post-Purchase Ripening
Some fruits keep ripening after you buy them, like peaches, nectarines, plums, and cantaloupes. Others, like grapes, cherries, and apples, are ready to eat when you take them home. If you’re unsure, look it up before buying.
Key Tips for Vegetables
Vegetables like avocados and tomatoes may ripen after being picked, but most don’t. Check for firm, blemish-free options. Slimy or overly soft? Hard pass.
Prepared and Bagged Produce
Inspect Dates
Bagged salads and broccoli should have at least 10 days left before their “best if used by” date. Peeled baby carrots are freshest if bought three weeks before their listed date.
Visual Check
Dates aren’t the only factor. If something looks limp, discolored, or otherwise sad, skip it—even if the date says it’s fine.
Meat and Poultry
Poultry
Sell-By Dates
Poultry freshness depends on packaging and storage methods:
- Supermarket-packed chicken has a shorter sell-by period.
- Plant-packed chicken lasts longer due to better sealing and lower contamination risks.
Choosing chicken with distant sell-by dates is generally a safe bet.
Visual and Textural Clues
Fresh poultry has dry skin with natural color—never slimy or greasy. When pressed, the flesh should spring back.
Packaging Indicators
Minimize liquid in the packaging is a sign of freshness. Look for labels that confirm the chicken has never been frozen.
Specific Notes
Ground turkey is extremely perishable, so always pick a brand with a distant sell-by date. Use or freeze poultry within two to three days of buying it.
Meat
Sell-By Dates
Freshness timelines for meat vary:
- Ground beef: Usually has a one-day sale period in many stores.
- Whole-muscle cuts: Supermarket-packed lasts three to five days, while vacuum-packed meat can last up to four weeks.
Visual and Textural Clues
- Color:
- Beef and lamb should be a bright cherry red.
- Pork is naturally lighter in color, while browning signals age.
- Ground beef is often red outside but purple-red inside (normal).
- Vacuum-packed meat may appear darker due to lack of oxygen.
- Texture: Press the meat; it should bounce back quickly if fresh.
Usage Guidelines
Use or freeze ground beef within one to two days of purchase. Whole-muscle cuts last three days in the fridge before needing to be cooked or frozen.
Dairy Products
Milk
Sell-By Dates
Milk is freshest when it has at least four days left on the sell-by date. Ultrapasteurized milk, like chocolate milk, can last 30 days unopened.
Storage
Once opened, milk stays fresh in the fridge for about a week.
Eggs
Expiration Dates
Egg cartons are typically labeled with a date 30–45 days from the pack date.
Storage Guidelines
Always refrigerate eggs in their original carton, not in the fridge door where temperatures can fluctuate. Use them within three weeks for the best quality.
Shopping Tip
Cracked or unrefrigerated eggs are a no-go. Avoid them.
Yogurt
Sell-By Dates
Yogurt is freshest about three weeks before its sell-by date. If unopened, it’s safe to eat for at least a month after.
Changes Over Time
After the sell-by date, the flavor and texture might shift, but it’s usually still fine to eat if it looks and smells normal.
Cheese
Sell-By Dates and Shelf Life
- Soft cheeses (like ricotta or cottage cheese): Stay fresh for up to three months if unopened, but only five to seven days after opening.
- Hard cheeses (like cheddar or Parmesan): Last nine months unopened, and up to two months after being opened.
Flavor Considerations
Hard cheeses develop sharper flavors as they age. Soft cheeses, on the other hand, may lose their taste over time.