What's in a Date? - Dive! Living off America's Waste Essay

What’s in a Date?

     More than 90% of American consumers throw away food prematurely, and 40% of the U.S. food supply is thrown away unused every year. Food waste is the biggest contributor to landfills, 96 billion pounds a year. The primary reason American’s throw away food prematurely, is due to the confusion over what expiration dates mean. Standardizing food dating will assist the consumer in determining when to actually discard food. Until the dates are standardized, consumers should educate themselves on the origin and meaning of the various dates, such as ‘Sell by’, ‘Best by’, and ‘Use by’. This knowledge will help households save hundreds of dollars a year on food bills.    

     Food dating began in the 1970s, as Americans produced less of their own food they still wanted information about how it was made. The government does not regulate food labeling, except for baby food. The Food Marketing institute determined that confusion over food labeling causes up to 90% of food waste . The Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture have regulatory purview over food labels, but have left methodology up to the discretion of individual manufacturers (Tuttle). "It's like the Wild West," NRDC scientist Dana Gunders told Time magazine (Tuttle).

     The date most commonly recognized is the ‘Sell by’ date that appears on packaged food. This date is a stocking and marketing tool provided by the manufacturer. The ‘Sell by’ date printed on packaged food is meant to assist the retailer with store stock and product turnover. This date is usually found on highly perishable foods with a short shelf life, such as milk, bread, and meat. It also ensures the product still has a long shelf life after the consumer buys them. The ‘Sell by’ date represents peak quality, not safety. Manufacturers want consumers to use their product when it is at its best, and they have an economic incentive to move older product off the shelf to be replaced by newer product. The result is that the ‘Sell by’ dates tend to be rather conservative contributing to food being discarded weeks before it needs to be.  Consumers lose hundreds of dollars a year by discarding food they incorrectly assume has gone bad.  It has been suggested that the ‘Sell by’ date should be made invisible to the consumer. ‘Sell by’ dates need to be standardized nationwide and should be representative of when food will spoil, not as a way to boost sales for manufacturers.

     While the ‘Sell by’ date is meant for the retailer, the ‘Best before’ and ‘Best if used by’ are intended for consumer use. These dates are found on products like baked goods, cereals, snacks, and some canned goods. These dates are when the manufacturer estimates the product has reached its peak freshness. The intent of these dates is to ensure the product still has a shelf life after the consumers purchase them by the printed date. They do not indicate spoilage or that the food is unsafe to eat. The manufacturers want to make sure the consumer eats and tastes a high quality product. However, the food is still safe to eat after this date. For example, the other day I went into my pantry and grabbed a package of tortilla wraps. The package was stamped with the following: PB (purchase by) Mar 7 14. The tortillas were still soft and tasted no different than the day they were purchased. 

    Other consumer dates are ‘Expiration’, ‘Use by’, and ‘Use before’. These dates appear on yogurt, eggs, and other refrigerated foods. These dates are supposed to represent a product is no longer sufficient to consume beyond its ‘expiration’ date. Again, as with the other dates, they are established by the manufacturer and are very conservative. Eggs, for example, can be consumed up to five weeks after being purchased, even though the ‘use by’ date is much earlier. Another example is a box of mac-and-cheese with a ‘use by’ date of March 2013 can be enjoyed on March 2014, most likely with no noticeable changes in quality or taste.

     Unfortunately, Congress and the food manufacturers have not taken the initiative to standardize food dating. It is up to the consumer to educate themselves on food dating. Understanding food dating will save households money and reduce the amount of food waste in landfills. There is a quote about life that could be applied to food, and it reads ‘Enjoy life now, it has an expiration date’.          

    

     

Works Cited

Tuttle, Hilary. "'Use by' leaves food unused." Risk Management Nov. 2013: 12. Academic OneFile. Web. 22 Mar. 2014.

Schiffman, Richard. "What a waste! Food advocates call for grocery stores to combat food waste."   

May-June 2013: 14+. Academic OneFile. Web. 22 Mar. 2014.

"Decoding the freshness dates on food labels." Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter Nov. 1997:  3.  Academic OneFile. Web. 22 Mar. 2014.