Latest news with #MattBrooks
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Charity 5-a-side football match raises money for Cumbrian suicide charity
A charity football match raised money for a mental health charity in memory of a Kendal man who took his own life. The five-a-side over 35s tournament was organised by Matt Brooks in memory of his friend Jonathan Mason who died in 2022, aged 39. Advertisement This year's tournament saw ten teams sign up to take part and raise money for Every Life Matters, a charity based in Shap providing suicide bereavement support across Cumbria. Mr Brooks said: "When Jonny died it was such a shocking scenario because nobody expected it. He was the life and soul of the party. "Running these football matches has been a way for us to pull together and remember him, but it's also given us all an opportunity to stop and think, and be more aware of our mental health.' Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50 in the UK with death rates in Cumbria higher than the national average. Advertisement Mr Brooks said he feels the games have given people a much-needed space to talk. The football matches are an opportunity to reflect and remember (Boony Bugs) 'You see a lot of people chatting after the match and often it gives them a chance to talk about their personal situations and what helps them get through tough times.' This year's match raised £1,275 taking the total raised for Every Life Matters to £6,906 over the last three years. The Cumbrian charity promotes suicide safer communities and provides resources designed to improve wellbeing and mental health. Read more Mr Brooks said: 'As much as it's sad, it's a celebration really. When I put this idea out there, we ended up with a great community of Jonny's family, friends and people who have connections to football in Kendal. Advertisement 'Although our friend is gone he'll always be with us. We hope the money we raise might just help prevent situations like this occurring again for others.' To donate, you can visit the JustGiving page at
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Charity 5-a-side football match raises money for Cumbrian suicide charity
A charity football match raised money for a mental health charity in memory of a Kendal man who took his own life. The five-a-side over 35s tournament was organised by Matt Brooks in memory of his friend Jonathan Mason who died in 2022, aged 39. This year's tournament saw ten teams sign up to take part and raise money for Every Life Matters, a charity based in Shap providing suicide bereavement support across Cumbria. Mr Brooks said: "When Jonny died it was such a shocking scenario because nobody expected it. He was the life and soul of the party. "Running these football matches has been a way for us to pull together and remember him, but it's also given us all an opportunity to stop and think, and be more aware of our mental health.' Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50 in the UK with death rates in Cumbria higher than the national average. Mr Brooks said he feels the games have given people a much-needed space to talk. The football matches are an opportunity to reflect and remember (Boony Bugs) 'You see a lot of people chatting after the match and often it gives them a chance to talk about their personal situations and what helps them get through tough times.' This year's match raised £1,275 taking the total raised for Every Life Matters to £6,906 over the last three years. The Cumbrian charity promotes suicide safer communities and provides resources designed to improve wellbeing and mental health. World record broken on Sedbergh fell by Joe and Andrew Symonds Mr Brooks said: 'As much as it's sad, it's a celebration really. When I put this idea out there, we ended up with a great community of Jonny's family, friends and people who have connections to football in Kendal. 'Although our friend is gone he'll always be with us. We hope the money we raise might just help prevent situations like this occurring again for others.' To donate, you can visit the JustGiving page at
Toronto Sun
29-05-2025
- General
- Toronto Sun
5 myths about food expiration dates and best-by labels
Date labels are often unclear, inconsistent and, it's fair to say, downright bewildering Published May 29, 2025 • Last updated 5 minutes ago • 6 minute read Good luck making sense of the dates in your nearest yogurt aisle. Photo by Matt Brooks / TWP Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. Date labels. Expiration dates. Best-by dates. Whatever you call them, at some point, you've probably squinted at those tiny dot-matrix-printed numbers and wondered: 'Does this mean my cheese might kill me?' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account If so, you're not alone. Date labels are often unclear, inconsistent and, it's fair to say, downright bewildering. There's a lot to demystify. As you navigate the wilds of your fridge, cabinets and pantry, and, perhaps as you and your partner or roommates trade heated words over less-than-fresh orange juice that c'mon, guys, really seems fine, consider these myths about the little prophecies stamped on our food. – – – Myth: All food should be thrown away as soon as the printed date passes 'Many people interpret food dates to be about the safety of food,' said Dana Gunders, president of ReFED, a U.S. nonprofit dedicated to food waste reduction. So what happens after the printed date? If you wait long enough, most perishable goods will obviously spoil, while most shelf-stable goods will physically degrade, which could take a very long time. So, flavours and colours might fade. Old almonds, for example, won't be overrun with bacteria but will taste off as their oils break down. Acidic dairy products such as yogurt and sour cream are inhospitable to dangerous bacteria but may become more tart over time (you might also find obvious spoilage, like mold, after an open yogurt container has spent awhile in the fridge). Properly refrigerated pasteurized milk can be fine past its date, but will eventually develop off odours and flavours. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. So, in most cases, you can inspect, sniff and, where reasonable, taste food past its preordained shelf life to determine if it's still good enough for you. But … – – – Myth: You can always rely on your senses when assessing food past its date Some moist foods served straight from the fridge can host dangerous bacteria that can, over time, grow to infectious levels, even under refrigeration, even as the food still looks and smells fine. These foods are particularly risky during pregnancy, so Gunders suggests deference to dates on foods, such as deli meats, that pregnant people are told to avoid. Kathy Glass, who recently retired as associate director at the Food Research Institute at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, said she respects 'use-by' dates and other storage guidance (like an ideal fridge temperature) on refrigerated products, particularly those designed to be eaten cold. 'Many manufacturers have researched spoilage versus safety to determine those dates,' she said. On those keep-cold products, she said the phrase 'use by' signals 'they've done their studies to demonstrate that if you would use it by that particular date, and you kept it at a good refrigeration temperature, it should be safe.' Food should be refrigerated between 35 and 40 degrees, she said. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'It's not as if it's going to explode in your refrigerator on the 'use-by' date,' said Glass, whose work included testing pathogens' abilities to grow in various food products in conditions simulating consumer kitchens. But, she said, caution is warranted, especially for people with less robust immune systems. You can also pause the clock by freezing the food, or, if you're on the edge, minimize the risk by cooking, say, slices of turkey breast, to 165 degrees. Breakfast sandwich, anyone? Of course, you might also see 'use by' on products that don't require any special precautions. That brings us to our next myth … – – – Myth: Date labels are nationally standardized 'Use by,' 'best by,' 'expires on' or any of the other myriad phrases you might see stamped on your food don't have official definitions. The federal government requires a 'use-by' date only on infant formula (the date is the last point at which the manufacturer guarantees the nutritional content; nutrients eventually degrade). This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Absent broad federal regulation, a patchwork of state and local laws, some contradicting each other and sending good food to the trash, govern date labels on various foods. In Montana, for example, milk must bear a 'sell-by' date of 12 days post pasteurization, even though milk usually lasts longer. After that, stores can't legally sell it. Advocates want to eliminate consumer-facing 'sell by' dates and restrict manufacturers to 'best if used by' for quality and 'use by' for safety. Bills to codify this have floated around Congress for years, and a coalition of food companies created a voluntary standard in 2017. But plenty of manufacturers still use other phrases. Sometimes they have no choice. Because of the existing state laws, companies 'couldn't fully follow that voluntary standard without running afoul of state law,' said Emily Broad Leib, director of the Food Law and Policy Clinic at Harvard Law School. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Still, next year, a new California law simplifying consumer-facing date labels to the 'best if used by'/'use-by' binary goes into effect, and the Food and Drug Administration and Department of Agriculture recently concluded a public comment period on food dating. Broad Leib's legal clinic, ReFED and others believe the federal agencies could use their regulatory authority to streamline date labels. 'People are wasting money every day by throwing food away that they could be eating,' Broad Leib said. People should 'have the freedom to say, 'The date passed, but this still looks and smells fine.' … And for the small number of foods where there is actually a safety risk, not having these standards is also making people potentially take extra risk.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. – – – Myth: Most date labels are meaningless Companies determine shelf life in a number of ways, from rigorous original research to reliance on past product data or food science concepts, or even consumer complaints and educated guesses. Depending on how the company arrives at the date, it could be very conservative, with a lot of decent quality shelf life remaining, or you could notice the product declining quickly after the date. Interpret dates on shelf-stable foods as the last point at which the manufacturer guarantees quality. At Nature's Path Organic Foods, Linsey Herman, associate vice president of research and development, said accurate date labels are a priority for keeping customers happy. The breakfast and snack food company's employees conduct weekly blind taste tests on products stored in various conditions for various time periods. When enough people detect a notable quality slip, shelf life is established. While many factors affect how a food ages, Herman said ground seeds and nuts, whose healthier fats break down relatively quickly, often shrink shelf lives. Rancid fats can smell like paint or cardboard or have an otherwise unappetizing odor. A Nature's Path cereal with ground flaxseed, for example, has about half the shelf life of a grain-based flake cereal. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Once a 'best by' date passes, Herman urges consumers to use their judgment. 'Maybe you stored it in a cool, dark place so it's in great shape and it might have a long shelf life,' she said, noting that storage near heat sources like the stove can accelerate aging. But, she said, if you get a chemically whiff from those broken-down oils, 'I would not recommend eating it.' I know that off-putting smell from my own cabinet-aged granola bars. On the other hand, I recently had no qualms pouring corn kernels more than a year past their 'best by' date into my popcorn popper. My snack turned out great. Some dates may be more meaningful than others, but I'd argue it's worth paying attention to them to help nudge yourself toward eating what you have. Ultimately, eating the food already in your kitchen and buying less at the store will help you reduce food waste, save money and eat fresher food. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. – – – Myth: Food banks cannot accept 'expired' food Many nonprofits accept food donations after the 'best by' date. In Utah, for example, Bountiful Food Pantry invites donations of food up to three years past the printed date. The pantry's website explains: 'Our army of volunteers goes through all food items and makes sure they're still safe and healthy to eat, and we don't distribute any food we wouldn't eat ourselves.' Of course, check with a nonprofit before you arrive with 'expired' goods – some may not accept them and some might be hamstrung by local laws. Broad Leib said about 20 states restrict the sale or donation of past-dated food. When laws are silent, she said, that also creates a barrier, 'because there's no one saying this is allowed.' Toronto & GTA Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls Tennis NFL
