{"id":1341,"date":"2013-12-30T16:37:21","date_gmt":"2013-12-30T16:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/personalpolishing.wordpress.com\/?p=1341"},"modified":"2015-10-11T21:21:01","modified_gmt":"2015-10-11T21:21:01","slug":"sell-by-dates-and-other-misleading-labels-cause-terrible-food-waste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/sell-by-dates-and-other-misleading-labels-cause-terrible-food-waste\/","title":{"rendered":"“Sell By” Dates and Other Misleading Labels Cause Terrible Food Waste"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Carole Jackson><\/strong>, Bottom Line Health<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Open your refrigerator or pantry, and pick up a few random jars, bottles, cans or cartons of food\u00e2\u0080\u0094peanut butter, orange juice, cereal, soup or whatever. Most of them probably are stamped with a date that says something like \u00e2\u0080\u009csell by\u00e2\u0080\u009d or \u00e2\u0080\u009cenjoy by.\u00e2\u0080\u009d And if you\u00e2\u0080\u0099re like many people, you throw out the food once that date has passed\u00e2\u0080\u0094because you assume that it\u00e2\u0080\u0099s no longer safe to consume.<\/p>\n

But are those assumptions correct? Typically not. In fact, in many cases those dates are arbitrary and meaningless! This makes it all the more aggravating that \u00e2\u0080\u009cdate label confusion\u00e2\u0080\u009d is a significant contributor to the staggering amount of food waste that occurs in this country.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Food waste is bad for our wallets, costing the average American family of four $1,365 to $2,275 per year. What\u00e2\u0080\u0099s more, we\u00e2\u0080\u0099re suffering a lot of needless anxiety, worrying that what we eat is going to make us sick. A new report from the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic explains the problem and offers some solutions\u00e2\u0080\u00a6<\/p>\n

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WASTEFUL NATION, CONFUSED CONSUMERS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In the US, we waste an appalling 160 billion pounds of food per year. If only\u00c2\u00a0one-third<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0of what\u00e2\u0080\u0099s thrown away somehow could be distributed to the 15% of Americans who don\u00e2\u0080\u0099t have enough food, no one would go hungry.<\/p>\n

Much of that waste occurs when food is tossed unnecessarily by consumers who are confused by the food date labeling system. Yet it\u00e2\u0080\u0099s no wonder they\u00e2\u0080\u0099re confused\u00e2\u0080\u0094because terms such as \u00e2\u0080\u009csell by\u00e2\u0080\u009d and \u00e2\u0080\u009cbest before\u00e2\u0080\u009d have no official, standardized definitions. Is the food no longer fit to eat\u00e2\u0080\u00a6or do manufacturers just want you to throw out stuff that\u00e2\u0080\u0099s been in your pantry for a while so that you\u00e2\u0080\u0099ll buy more of their products? Though people often assume that the food cannot be safely consumed after the stamped date, most food label dates indicate only peak freshness and optimal flavor,not<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0an end to any safe window of opportunity for consumption.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The inconsistency problem:\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Although the FDA and the USDA have the authority to regulate various types of food labeling, they generally do not regulate date-labeling practices, instead leaving this to food manufacturers, states or even local governments. The result is wild inconsistency. For instance, a carton of eggs sold in South Carolina can be stamped with a date that\u00e2\u0080\u0099s up to 45 days after the carton is packed, while a carton of eggs sold in Alaska is marked with a date that\u00e2\u0080\u0099s not more than 24 days after packing.<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/div>\n

The authors of the new Harvard report point out that it is impossible to provide actual definitions for all the date label terms currently in use because meanings are not legally defined. They vary by state, and there is no consensus about how to apply them to different categories of food products. However, the terms generally can loosely be interpreted as\u00e2\u0080\u00a6<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u0080\u00a2 \u00e2\u0080\u009cProduction\u00e2\u0080\u009d or \u00e2\u0080\u009cpack\u00e2\u0080\u009d date\u00e2\u0080\u0094the date on which the food product was manufactured or placed in its final packaging.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u00e2\u0080\u00a2 \u00e2\u0080\u009cSell by\u00e2\u0080\u009d date or \u00e2\u0080\u009cexpiration date\u00e2\u0080\u009d\u00e2\u0080\u0094information to retailers for stock control, leaving a reasonable amount of shelf life for the consumer after purchase.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u0080\u00a2 \u00e2\u0080\u009cBest if used by\u00e2\u0080\u009d date\u00e2\u0080\u0094typically an estimate of a date after which food will no longer be at its highest quality.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u0080\u00a2 \u00e2\u0080\u009cUse by\u00e2\u0080\u009d date\u00e2\u0080\u0094also typically a manufacturer\u00e2\u0080\u0099s indication of the last date recommended for the use of the product while at peak quality.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u0080\u00a2 \u00e2\u0080\u009cFreeze by\u00e2\u0080\u009d date\u00e2\u0080\u0094a reminder that quality can be maintained much longer by freezing a product.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u0080\u00a2 \u00e2\u0080\u009cEnjoy by\u00e2\u0080\u009d date\u00e2\u0080\u0094essentially useless to consumers.<\/p>\n

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Is there any term being used that indicates when a product is no longer\u00c2\u00a0<\/span>safe<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0to consume? No! And that\u00e2\u0080\u0099s the whole point of the report.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The authors had several recommendations for the food industry that could help cut back on needless waste, including standardizing the labeling system and improving the use of safe-handling instructions so consumers know which foods should be refrigerated or frozen and how long foods last in different conditions.<\/p>\n

But until such industry changes are made, consumers can use common sense to waste not, want not. Obviously, you shouldn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t eat or drink anything that looks, smells or tastes like it has gone bad. For instance, toss anything with visible mold or discoloration, an \u00e2\u0080\u009coff\u00e2\u0080\u009d odor, changes in texture or flavor or marred packaging (such as a broken seal on a bottle or a misshapen or corroded lid on a can). Other than that, though\u00e2\u0080\u00a6<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u0080\u00a2 Remember that the \u00e2\u0080\u009csell by\u00e2\u0080\u009d date is purely for grocers\u00e2\u0080\u0099 inventory-management systems. If you\u00e2\u0080\u0099re in the store and want to compare dates to select the freshest items for your cart, that\u00e2\u0080\u0099s fine, as is opting not to buy foods that are past the \u00e2\u0080\u009csell by\u00e2\u0080\u009d date. But once a food is in your home, don\u00e2\u0080\u0099t misinterpret the \u00e2\u0080\u009csell by\u00e2\u0080\u009d date as an \u00e2\u0080\u009ceat or throw away by\u00e2\u0080\u009d date.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u0080\u00a2 With nonperishable items (canned goods, spices, honey) and packaged foods (cereals, crackers), safety isn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t really an issue, the researchers said. However, these foods may taste less flavorful after a long time in storage.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u0080\u00a2 Perishable foods\u00e2\u0080\u0094such as unfrozen shellfish, fish, meat or poultry, and eggs and dairy products\u00e2\u0080\u0094can spoil and make you ill. However, there\u00e2\u0080\u0099s so much variability from food to food that it\u00e2\u0080\u0099s impossible to give a blanket number of days after the \u00e2\u0080\u009cuse by\u00e2\u0080\u009d date within which all products should be consumed. For more information on particular types of foods, check a reputable resource such as\u00c2\u00a0Nutrition.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u0080\u00a2 Be sure to store each food as the label directs\u00e2\u0080\u0094for instance, by refrigerating after opening, if so instructed. That\u00e2\u0080\u0099s the best way to avoid food waste.<\/p>\n

Source:<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0Emily Broad Leib, JD<\/a>, director, Food Law and Policy Division, Harvard Law School, Boston. She is coauthor of a report titled \u00e2\u0080\u009cThe Dating Game: How Confusing Food Date Labels Lead to Food Waste in America,\u00e2\u0080\u009d copublished with The Natural Resources Defense Council, an international nonprofit environmental group.<\/p>\n

More on Food-Labeling Problems<\/h5>\n
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  1. Food Label Colors Trick Consumers<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Dangerous Food Additives That Sound Safe<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Why Ugly Honey Is Better<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Genetically Modified Foods Are Everywhere!<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. Is Buying Products with Pink Ribbons
    \nfor Charity, Etc., Really Worth It?<\/a><\/li>\n
  6. Be Aware of Hyped-Up Food Labels<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    by Carole Jackson>, Bottom Line Health Open your refrigerator or pantry, and pick up a few random jars, bottles, cans or cartons of food\u00e2\u0080\u0094peanut butter, orange juice, cereal, soup or whatever. Most of them probably are stamped with a date that says something like \u00e2\u0080\u009csell by\u00e2\u0080\u009d or \u00e2\u0080\u009cenjoy by.\u00e2\u0080\u009d And if you\u00e2\u0080\u0099re like many people, … Continue reading “Sell By” Dates and Other Misleading Labels Cause Terrible Food Waste<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-for-your-body","pmpro-has-access"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4MGMb-lD","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1341"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1355,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1341\/revisions\/1355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}