Many times, this blog has reported on the importance of emphasizing the “sell by date” without making consumers think they have to throw their food away. Making this information available and easy to understand helps the consumer to feel more at ease, and a professional label printer is vital to achieving this look.
In a food science column for the Sacramento Bee, Teri Mena notes the way that different language on a package refers to different patterns of consumption. The term “Best if used by” does not have anything to do with the safety of a food product and instead pertains to when a product will reach its “maximum quality.”
In fact, the only date that specifically defines when a product should be consumed is the “expiration date” on the label. This should be prominent and clear, so when a manufacturer designs food labels, it should do it so the dates can be presented to the customers with minimum confusion.
The context also matters, as Catharine Kaufman says in a piece for the La Jolla Light, with some forms of labels more appropriate to specific packages. Cans, for example, would have their own specific information that needs to appear which shouldn’t be confused with the consumer-facing information.
“All canned food must have packing codes (a series of letters and/or numbers) so the manufacturer can track, rotate and find a product if it is recalled,” she said. “The consumer is not meant to decipher these codes; they are not related to food dating.”
An Epson TM-C3400 label printer will help businesses create labels that communicate all of the right information on their products. Visit our website for more information on the different label options available.
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