Please, enough with "sell by" dates

Too often, consumers misunderstand "sell by" labels on their perishable goods. Last year, the Food Manufacturers Association began encouraging companies to rephrase the "expiry dates" more clearly, those that would not suggest immediate deletion, but rather the date of optimal use. .

Now, the Food And Drug Administration has sent a public letter to the food industry, joining the campaign to "better use if," as the industry standard for dated packaging. (This breaks with the GMA on the point of more declarative "use for," stating that it does not treat this term yet "for security reasons.") The FDA urges the sector to change its policies but to educate consumers about when foods are really spoiled and how to recognize them in order to avoid food waste:

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service estimates that 30% of food is lost or wasted at the retail and consumer level. This means that Americans throw about 133 billion pounds of food worth $ 161 billion a year.

Although people are naturally nervous about their food, especially with regard to foods that may cause health risks, the FDA guidelines actually tell the public what has always been true. For many foods, the sell-by date is not a definitive option. It is up to the consumer to determine if his food is still good or not. Canned foods, for example, have expiry dates, but they never really expire.

The FDA also notes in the letter that a survey, conducted late last year, found that "88% of respondents said the simplified date labels were clear and 85% said these labels were helpful. can come from such a minor modification, it is difficult to perceive any inconvenience for manufacturers who now consider that "better if used by" is a universal standard.