[bakedjelly]

Is there ever any way of knowing when exactly your food was gathered, for example, when a bag of oranges was picked, when an egg was laid, when milk was milked... on packages we only have best before/use by so its hard to tell.

I am wondering because I'm curious to know how long it takes food to make it from the field to the shelf. I would guess, maybe a week?

If food packaging had dates to show when food was actually picked/gathered do you think it would be beneficial or not?

[grassmarket]

It can be ages. 30 years ago I worked for a company that stored the harvested fruit and veg - mostly apples and cabbage - in giant chilled warehouses, and gradually dribbled it out over the course of year as needed. It's really going to depend on the product - you couldn't keep raspberries or strawberries as long as that.

[degsyhufc]

The recent Channel 4 program Food: What Goes In Your Basket had several reports on farm to supermarket processes for various foods.
It may be available to view online.

Things like potatoes could be stored for 6 months.


I've seen before reports about "fresh" peas where they could be in a wearhouse for a week and so frozen is best because it is picked and frozen within hours.

[-GONZO-]

It all depends on what it is.
I watched a food prog about this such thing and if I remember correctly pineapples are picked, portioned, packaged, on a flight and on the shelf within 38-46 hours.

[onefineday]

Quote:

Originally Posted by degsyhufc

Things like potatoes could be stored for 6 months.

It's ok for a root to be stored for months. Most of them are inclined to survive the winter in a fairly dormant form, all we have to do is trick them into thinking they're still buried in the cold earth.

Although how it works for cabbages I really don't know.