If you are like many conscientious consumers, checking the “best-by” date is a regular part of grocery shopping. Many foods contain preservatives to stabilize their contents for longer storage and shelf life. Other products are prone to colonization by bacteria or molds. So manufacturers stamp dates onto cans and containers to indicate an appropriate timescale for use.

However, the flip side of this dating process is that consumers interpret a “best-by” (also called “best-before” or “sell-by”) date as a concrete deadline. How many times have you emptied the fridge and discarded anything questionable based on the date stamp? In fact, these dates may be responsible for epidemic levels of food wastage across many countries.

In the UK, government officials are taking a hard look at packaging guidelines. It is all part of an initiative to reduce waste - including food and packaging. Retailers are critical of the proposal, suggesting that eliminating best-by dates will not reduce food waste. The problem is that dating products leaves consumers unclear about the meaning of the dates. The main concern is food safety. But many dates represent a conservative estimate of how long a product remains at its peak palatability. In fact, long after an indicated date, many foods remain perfectly safe, nutritious, and delicious.

European law requires “best-before” and “use-by” stamps for health and safety. However, many consumers are confused by the different dates. It’s estimated that in the UK alone, each year, food worth £10 billion is thrown away needlessly. Multiply this value by all the European countries, add in North America, Australia, and other developed nations, and the total is staggering. Collectively, we are chucking out more than enough food to feed the starving masses in other areas. What could be more shameful?

Yet who can blame careful consumers who are bombarded with food safety scares? Nothing seems safe anymore, whether it’s fresh fruits and vegetables, sliced meat, dairy products, or peanut butter. Following a precautionary protocol of throwing out items marked with old dates seems perfectly reasonable.

In fact, making the existing dates more clear is a start. Does the date mean the product is still edible? Or is the date a warning? Interpretation varies with the type of food item. How items have been stored and prepared is also important, since frozen bread is usable long after the date stamp while pre-sliced meat may not be safe after the indicated date.

The British Retail Consortium is keen to see best-by dates kept in place and supplemented by consumer education. However, these same dates are often the reason for vast shelf clearances in stores. Shifting out “expired” food creates a mother lode for urban freegans who delight in perfectly good food at no cost. It’s all very well to educate consumers, but will they buy expired products? And will stores stock them after the date has passed? That is the true test of best-by effectiveness.

What is the policy in your area? Would you buy something the day after its expiry date? If the date merely indicates a peak quality estimate - usually conservative - is that valid or useful? Can you conscience throwing out edible food? Or is food safety so important that waste is justified? We must all ask ourselves these key questions. Otherwise, it’s impossible to modify the current system.

One other possibility is following a more traditional routine, where small amounts of food are purchased daily to ensure freshness, rather than making a mega-shopping trip every week (or month) and relying on longer term storage.

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