Are food sell-by dates past their sell-by date?
By Dave Parrack
Food expiration labeling has been with us for many decades now, and it’s useful up to a point. But are the many different types of labeling and shelf-life dating generally more confusing than helpful and leading many people to throw away food unnecessarily?
When you buy foodstuff these days you’re likely to be faced with at least one, but more likely multiple, guidelines telling you when it’s best to eat or drink it, and when it should be binned. Retailers use ‘Sell by’ or ‘Display until’ to tell their staff when to take stock off the shelves, while food manufacturers use either ‘Best before’ or ‘Use by’ to guide consumers.
But are these really necessary? The problem with these guidelines is they mean more food is being wasted than ever, both by retailers and householders. Which isn’t good for both reasons of profitability in a worsening economy and because that food could be consumed by people who aren’t quite so bothered about whether a label tells them it’s past its best or not.
According to BBC News, the U.K. Government, led by Environment Secretary Hilary Benn, is considering scrapping some guidelines and rephrasing others in an effort to cut waste, not only of food but also packaging. It’s estimated that up to £10 billion worth of food is thrown away each year in Britain alone, and I’m sure the same kind of excess is being repeated in countries around the world.
I personally think this is a great idea because there is huge wastefulness on display entirely due to this trend for over-labeling. Whatever happened to actually using common sense to know when something is good to eat or not? Do we have to be told by manufacturers and retailers when something is off? What did people do before sell-by dates were introduced? I doubt they all got sick from eating rancid food.
‘Use by’ would seem the one logical food label to stick to. This is the legally-required one which is designed to tell us all when food or drink is likely to have gone bad and not be good for our health. Fine, keep it. But I’d suggest we can all make our own minds up as to when something is ‘Best before’.
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