Your Dinner Date

• It's important to understand the difference between expiration dates and freshness dates on food packaging. Infant formula and a few other foods are potentially dangerous after they've reached a certain age, and those are imprinted with expiration dates. Most foods, even perishable ones, don't pose the same kind of threat. The dates printed on them are described as freshness dates, best-before dates or use-by dates. They're intended to let you know how long that product retains its best, freshest flavor and quality. Foods typically can be used a bit past their best-before date without risk of food-borne illness.

Safe in the Freezer

• The use-by date on food becomes even less pertinent if you choose to freeze it. Freezing effectively halts the aging of food, so if you freeze a pound of bacon with a freshness date a month away, it still is good for about a month when you take it out and thaw it. Many bacteria and parasites can survive the freezer, so freezing doesn't make food any safer, but they can't reproduce until the food is thawed. At that point, your food should be handled and stored like freshly purchased items.

Not Immortal

• Long freezing doesn't affect food safety, but quality is another thing entirely. Any air that's trapped inside your freezer bags or containers eventually causes freezer burn, an area of dried-out food that quickly develops unpleasant flavors. Off flavors and odors can be passed from one food to another, causing odd results when you thaw and cook them. Most foods are best if you use them within two or three months, although well-wrapped and well-sealed packages can remain usable for a year or longer.

A Few Tips

• The best packaging is the most airtight, so vacuum-sealed food tends to store better in the long term. Heavy duty freezer bags work well if you take care to squeeze out as much air as possible before sealing them. If you use rigid containers for freezing, press plastic film wrap to the food's surface to block out air before you seal the container. Double up protection by double-bagging foods or bagging them and placing them inside an outer container; this helps prevent freezer burn and extends the life of frozen foods.