This tiktokeur has found how to check the expiry of a food

Hummus, coleslaw, yogurt, chicken… Do expiry dates really correspond to the temporal reality of a food product that would make us sick? On TikTok, Gavin Wren wants to prove that not. The Brit is not afraid to put his own health on the line to prove how effective common sense can be in the fight against food waste. In an inflationary context with prices which have risen by almost 8% across the Channel, the one we call “the man with the titanium stomach” generates several thousand views with its videos in the form of experiences which consist of “taste” expired food.

Each time, Gavin Wren deciphers the smell and taste of food guinea pigs several days after the expiry date. Faithful to English phlegm, he proves in each video how much these foodstuffs, which were supposed to end up in the trash, do not make you sick even when they are consumed after the said date.

The egg example

The most symbolic example – because it is riskier given the potential contamination by salmonella – is the egg. Gavrin Wren demonstrates with a box purchased 88 days earlier, nearly three months later. He presents a famous grandmother’s trick which consists of plunging an egg into a container of water to check if it is still good to eat. When it floats, it becomes unfit for consumption, while when it remains in the bottom, it can still be transformed into an omelette. During the experience of the tiktokeur, if some eggs indeed rise to the surface, another comes closer to the bottom, which encourages the user to cook it. The latter concludes how the system of expiry dates generates considerable food waste when it would suffice to rely on one’s senses.

observe food

There is the sense of smell, but also the sight. The coleslaw is observed carefully to check its freshness. The more time passes, the more the white cabbage and grated carrot salad becomes yellow. After two weeks, he decides to throw it in the trash. His point is not to say that food can be consumed indefinitely, but that from one product to another you really have to use your logic. In the case of yogurt, the last test took place 31 days after purchase and for hummus, bacteria grew after 17 days.

In truth, there is no miracle trick to establishing a rule. Nevertheless, Gavin Wren respects the same ceremonial before testing each product: he checks the temperature of the refrigerator, which must be between 0° and 3°C, according to him. Proper preservation of a food is a key element in optimizing its longevity.

This position is reminiscent of the decision of the English supermarket chain Morrisons to no longer indicate an expiry date on the bottles of milk of its own brand. Instead, consumers should… sniff it, advised the distributor when this measure was announced at the very beginning of the year.