California first state to ban 'sell by' 'best before' label to reduce food waste

https://fortune.com/2024/10/02/california-first-state-ban-sell-by-best-before-labels-reduce-food-waste/

by paulpauper • 2 years ago

42 50 2 years ago

DamonHD• 2 years ago

We basically already have this in the UK, and is is helpful. But we still waste too much! One of the local groups that I work with (ish) saves huge amounts of stuff from supermarkets regularly that would otherwise be discarded.

rramadass2• 2 years ago

You might find this documentary interesting - https://www.divethefilm.com/

As a person who grew up (and currently live) in India and who spent a decade-and-half in the US, to see the amount of perfectly good food thrown away in the developed world is infuriating and morally inexcusable.

JamesBarney• 2 years ago

Food waste isn't a problem. If the US threw out 20% less food all the same countries would struggle with food security and hunger. If the US consumed less food, less would be grown. It wouldn't change the price of rice or wheat in India.

Almost all the food imported from the US to India for instance is consumed by the middle class such as tree nuts (almonds) and are not staple foods consumed by those struggling to eat. There isn't that much rice or wheat that's imported. In addition India has lots of tariffs to drive up the price of imported food from the US to protect local farmers. None of the cause of food insecurity is Susie throwing out a mayonnaise container that might be perfectly fine but past the best by date.

bofadeez4• 2 years ago

You waste too much. What other people do is not your business.

mrweiner3• 2 years ago

You waste too much.

You have no information about how much waste they produce.

What other people do is not your business.

We cant comment that grocery stores throw out too much food because it’s not our business?

vfclists• 2 years ago

Will it be replaced with a "Produced on XXXX" date?

If you don't know when a product is considered unsafe, then at least you should know when it was produced to know if it is fresh enough for "YOUR"your consumption.

It shouldn't be up to the govt to decide what is or isn't fresh enough for you. That is your choice.

argiopetech• 2 years ago

Is the current system of "Use by" not also entirely driven by government regulation, from the requirement to the ∆T?

Agreed that a "Produced on" date is better.

jjk1662• 2 years ago

No, only dairy and egg products are labelled as such based on government regulations. Everything else is a number companies pull out of their butts.

iterateoften5• 2 years ago

I second this motion 100%

Confusing use by labels only benefit corps by allowing them to over buy and then let their inventory spoil on the shelf while they charge full price for year old garbage.

If customers knew when their food was made, people would be grossed out and not buy rice cooked 8 months ago from the refrigerated section. it would force corps to have more sales to rotate inventory more often.

Suppafly5• 2 years ago

If customers knew when their food was made, people would be grossed out .... it would force corps to have more sales to rotate inventory more often.

That sounds like it would increase food waste because consumers have no idea how long things commercially prepared should be allowed to be sold for and would be basing it on flawed assumption from their own cooking.

Suppafly5• 2 years ago

then at least you should know when it was produced to know if it is fresh enough for "YOUR"your consumption.

Most consumers have no idea how long something is good for past it's produced date though.

It shouldn't be up to the govt to decide what is or isn't fresh enough for you.

That's sorta what the law is addressing. They are getting rid of meaningless 'best by' type labels that have no bearing on the product quality.

eqvinox• 2 years ago

There are more than 50 different date labels on packaged food sold in stores, but the information is largely unregulated and does not relate to food safety.

WTF? How is this not regulated? It feels like one of the very first things you'd stick some regulation on…

s1artibartfast9• 2 years ago

Why?

jjk1662• 2 years ago

It's regulated on products where it matters. For many foodstuffs though, they don't really become unsafe, at least not on reasonable timescales. You probably don't want to drink a soda you found from 1996 but even if you did it would probably just be flat and maybe taste a little funky.

Cypher• 2 years ago

It's dumb, I don't like shopping without it

digital-cygnet• 2 years ago

Title is a little misleading, as attested to by several comments here. It's more a standardization (which, yes, does include "banning" the non-standard labels)

Relevant quote:

The law is set to take effect in July 2026, establishing a new standard for food labeling in California. It will require the use of “Best if Used By” label to signal peak quality and “Use By” label for product safety, an approach recommended by federal agencies

s1artibartfast9• 2 years ago

It will require the use of “Best if Used By” label to signal peak quality and “Use By” label for product safety

Who are these people that were confused by "Best by" but understand "best if used by"?

adamredwoods• 2 years ago

The same ones that began the meat safe handling instructions (1994), maybe?

https://www.meattrack.com/labeling/history/

audunw• 2 years ago

I think they should have used the labels we’re using here in Norway. I find them very clear:

- “Last consumption date” (maybe not safe to eat after this date) - “Best before” - these days they sometimes also add “.. but often good after”

s1artibartfast9• 2 years ago

What you said is basically the law, except that the often good after part would be illegal

devonbleak• 2 years ago

It's not about confusion/clarification it's about legal definition. Currently, because there's no legal definition around it, companies can throw any arbitrary date on a "best by" label on a product. And what we've found is that it's being abused as an artificially short faux expiration date to drive consumers to discard the still-fine-to-consume product and buy another one. This is good for the company who increase their sales but bad for pretty much everybody else because it increases food waste and the energy/resources that were consumed to create it.

s1artibartfast9• 2 years ago

They still can. There is no definition and it is at the manufacturers discretion. The law changed absolutely nothing about how best by dates are determined, just the wording.

The law literally is about the wording.

Suppafly5• 2 years ago

Who are these people that were confused by "Best by" but understand "best if used by"?

Probably the people who have noticed that they aren't used consistently to mean the same thing between brands or even between skus within the same brand.

s1artibartfast9• 2 years ago

Which is a inconsistency that has nothing to do with this law.

Now the words are the same, but still determined completely arbitrarily.

iterateoften5• 2 years ago

Maybe grocery stores should be forced to better their inventory control. My “fancy” neighborhood grocery store (upgraded from Vons to Pavilions supposedly as a mark of affluence) I have to check every item because sometimes premade foods like Mac and cheese and those “Kevin” chicken packs are 1-2 months past the best by date.

I think food should have a “made on date” in addition. I know on some items you can tell by the code, but for a lot of premade items like flatbreads, etc in the deli they just have a label of when they should be removed from the shelf.

Grocery prices are already high. If I buy a premade Mac and cheese and it is 1 month expired, how old is it really? 6 months? A year?

Sometimes I pick up one pack that is about to pass the best by date and the best by date of the one next to it is 6 months from now. That means the one that is about to pass is at least 6 months old.

How is it right that I have to pay full price for cooked items that are a year old?

Modern grocery stores are nasty since they started extending best by dates longer and longer and replaced most fresh deli items with factory made package food that you have no idea when it is made.

balderdash• 2 years ago

Totally agree on the packing date.

Why not just have three dates: “Packaged”, “Best by”, and “Expiration”

I feel like that would be extremely clear for people

homebrewer• 2 years ago

The proper solution is to put a sticker with the new "use by" date on top of the old one when it expires, like they do in my country. Keeps food waste and prices to a minimum. Of course, you will end up in a hospital now and again, but the last time that happened to me was ten years ago, which is a worthwhile tradeoff to keep grocery store owners happy and the government service (which is supposed to supervise all this) well greased.

mytailorisrich2• 2 years ago

Maybe grocery stores should be forced to better their inventory control.

Throwing away stuff is a loss for stores. They don't want to and make a lot of efforts not to.

The thing is that it is extremely difficult to impossible, especially when consumers demand full shelves all the time.

On the other hand, expired items on shelves is just a shoddy practice.

iterateoften5• 2 years ago

especially when consumers demand full shelves

That’s the issue. The quality of our food is nose diving for appearances.

Make regulations that benefit the health of the consumer instead of how many boxes of the same product a corporation can leave sitting on a shelf.

If grocery stores have to change and adapt, so be it.

Suppafly5• 2 years ago

especially when consumers demand full shelves all the time

I feel like stores gave up on that post-covid supply chain issues and have never went back to being full. Due to how many options grocery stores carry, they usually have some version of what you want, but they are often sold out of specific brands/sizes still.

s1artibartfast9• 2 years ago

You complain that prices are high, then propose that groceries have inventory restrictions to drive prices up further.

iterateoften5• 2 years ago

Grocery stores overbuy product to have full shelves not to get the best deal for their customer.

chadbennett• 2 years ago

https://archive.is/2O8wZ

ChrisArchitect• 2 years ago

[dupe] More discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41765006

486sx33• 2 years ago

I guess the question I’ve always had with the “sell by” label is, how much longer is the food good for after that date? A “best before” date would at least give me a chance at not messing that up.

However it’s all just a shot in the dark anyway isn’t it ?

2OEH8eoCRo0• 2 years ago

I noticed that the wording on my raw chicken from Whole Foods changed to "best if used by" from "use or freeze by." I worry because they aren't equivalent. Is Amazon just weaseling so they can sell older food?

Why can't we just use expiration dates? How long is this safe to eat?

FloatArtifact• 2 years ago

I doubt it'll lead to to difference in food waste reduction. People often forget different dates are not going to change that.

It's an inventory problem, at home and in the grocery store. Barcodes should include all embedded information about the food.

It's abit ridiculous, but imagine checking out at the grocery store. A barcode should be embedded with information on the receipt. A the barcode that allows you to ingest your entire shopping cart in one go. It could contain price, nutritional information, serving size, band and so on. Scan one bar coat with your phone and update your home inventory. It's all a matter of infrastructure.

California first state to ban 'sell by' 'best before' label to reduce food waste

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