WASHINGTON – The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that one-third, or 1.3 billion tonnes, of the food produced for human consumption globally is lost or wasted each year. The North American Meat Institute (NAMI) created a new Meat MythCrusher video aimed at teaching consumers to recognize the signs of spoilage as one strategy to help consumers reduce their food waste.

The video features Texas Tech Assistant Prof. Jerrad Legako, Ph.D. Legako explains how to identify spoilage, the role of package dates and what the dates mean. He also shares tips for keeping meat fresh and safe in addition to explaining how dates on packages are determined and why meat color is not a good indicator of spoilage.

“There’s not a specific point in time where food goes from safe to unsafe,” Legako said. “Those dates are really a predictor of freshness and indicator of when a product is most palatable.”

The new video is the 54^th in a series developed by NAMI and the American Meat Science Association (AMSA). The videos feature meat scientists and other prominent experts debunking the most common myths surrounding meat and poultry processing and production.

All the Meat MythCrusher videos are available at http://www.meatmythcrushers.com/.