In the US, change the designation of the shelf life of products

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Most Americans do not have a clear idea of ​​what the labeling on product packaging means. After 40 years of guesswork, food industry officials took steps to clarify the situation.

On Wednesday, February 15, the Food Marketing Institute and the Grocery Manufacturers Association, 2, the largest trading group in the grocery industry, announced that they had adopted standardized rules to help consumers understand what labeling means.

If previously manufacturers could use any of the 10 phrases of expiration, ranging from “expire” to “recommended to use”, now they can only use 2 phrases: “use to” and “better use to”.

The first phrase “use before” indicates the date after which perishable products should not be consumed. “Better to use before” indicates the period when the product has the best properties and flavor.

According to studies, these dates usually indicate one of 2 things: a signal to the grocery store from the manufacturer, when the product looks most attractive on the shelves, or an assumption about the period during which the consumer gets the most pleasure from the product.

Currently, consumers interpret this data differently: they tend to believe that this is a requirement of food safety, which are regulated by some standards.

As a result, the Americans prematurely threw food away. One study found that 91% of consumers mistakenly threw food when the date on the label expired. Thus, they took the date when the product has the best properties for the final date of use of this product.

However, one should not expect manufacturers to immediately follow standards. Companies have time to switch to new labeling by July 2018. Given that the standards are advisory in nature, there is no guarantee that they will be adopted for each individual company.

Some states have their own labeling rules that are not consistent with industry standards. For example, in Montana, milk should have the phrase “sell before.” This means that the state will continue to sell milk with the words “sell before” on the label, even if there is a new label for each other product.

However, a number of large producers have expressed their approval of new standards, including Walmart, which is the largest seller of food products.

In mid-December, the USDA also published recommendatory guidewhich encourages manufacturers to change phrases on the label.

According to the Council on the Conservation of Natural Resources, Americans throw away food for $ 218 billion each year.

According to the coalition, which opposes food waste, the proposed standards will be able to reduce the amount of waste by 398 thousand tons or by $ 1,8 billion.

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