Does food label confusion cause excessive food waste?

A new study from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF) revealed that Americans continue to waste an alarming amount of food for one big reason: label confusion.

With the outbreak of food-borne illnesses in the news over the past year, consumers may be acting more cautiously than necessary when tossing food that’s passed the ‘best by’ date.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has estimated that 31 percent of food loss occurs at the retail or consumer level, and that between 30 and 40 percent of the food supply in the nation is wasted. Understanding what these dates really mean and how manufacturers could influence change could be the first steps in turning this trend around.

Widespread label confusion
The study, titled “Misunderstood food date labels and reported food discards: A survey of U.S. consumer attitudes and behaviors,” was published in the Waste Management journal and was led by researchers at CLF, based out of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Most respondents in the survey (84 percent) said they at least occasionally throw out food that’s nearing its package date. This behavior is especially prevalent in the age range of 18 to 34.

Explaining label dates
Historically, dates on food packaging have reflected quality concerns, not safety concerns, Science Daily said. The researchers behind the CLF study also said the terms “best before” and “sell by” have been mostly unregulated by the government. What’s more, over a third of survey respondents incorrectly assumed that these date labels were regulated on a federal level.

However, new and reportedly voluntary industry standards are being used to respond to the consumer confusion. Under these new standards, a “best if used by” date on a package means that the quality will go down after that date, but the food is still safe to consume.

“Use by” labels, on the other hand, indicate when food safety may start to be of concern, and food should be discarded after that date.

The study concludes that excessive food waste is directly related to the misunderstanding of food labels. Consumer education is needed so that more voluntary standardization tactics can be implemented to further combat food loss.

As consumer behavior impacts industry standards, and regulations continue to address a variety of food and beverage label issues, you need to keep up. View our selection of label printers at Optimedia Labs’ U.S. page or visit our Canadian site.