The Case for Removing Expiration Date Labelling on Food

More than half of the food that people are commonly throwing away might be perfectly edible. That's the finding from a new study from the Institute of Food Technologists that found expiration date labeling on food was causing irrational decision making from consumers and contributing to much of household food wastage. Some stores are taking action, by removing expiration dates altogether.

In the UK, the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) predicted that “approximately 50,000 tonnes of food waste could be avoided each year if date labels were removed from just apples, bananas, potatoes, cucumber and broccoli.” An alternative idea is to start using “best before, often good after” labels to “encourage the acceptance of ‘date-expired’ foods in the knowledge that the item remains safe to consume.”

Ultimately, what is required to solve this problem is a change in habit from all of us. Instead of blindly tossing any food that has passed a date on a label, let's all consider eating it if it still looks and smells good.

Of course, this doesn't include cauliflower which is obviously inedible no matter when you get it.