Voluntary Compliance: The 2018 Product Date Label Regulations

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, Americans throw away $218 billion worth of food each year.

The worst part?

Most of this food has not even expired; it’s safe for consumption.

Then why are Americans wasting so much food?

Don’t blame the consumers; blame the manufacturers… Or more specifically, blame the outdated product date label regulations!

Why “outdated”, we’ll touch on that in a few moments, but let’s first understand how product date labels have so far contributed to U.S food waste.

How Product Date Labels Have Contributed to U.S Food Waste

Traditionally, food products carried “use-by” and “sell-by” dates on their packaging. These date labels were used quite loosely by manufacturers.

Any manufacturer wanting to convey the date for which their product would retain its peak quality, would use the label, and so would the manufacturer wanting to convey the expiry date of the food product.

There was no distinction.

And so confused, consumers would throw away these food products even when they were safe for consumption, but just did not taste at their very best.

Thankfully, the US. Department of Agriculture and a coalition of environmental groups saw the light and updated product date label regulations.

According to the updated regulations, manufacturers will choose one of two options: “Use By” and “Best if Used By”. The former will be used for representing safety on perishable food items, while the latter will help consumers know when the product would taste best.

These changes were brought into effect on July 26^th, 2018.

However, adhering to these updated standards is a manufacturer’s choice; it’s a voluntary compliance.

What’s Your Stance?

Are you a food product manufacturer? What’s your stance on the voluntary compliance? Have you taken steps towards establishing packaging compliance? If not, then you must!

As a food manufacturer, it’s your responsibility to ensure consumers don’t waste food unnecessarily. Food waste contributes to global hunger and also to greenhouse gas emissions. Adopt the updated product date label regulations and play your part in reducing food waste.

Let’s come together and make this world a better place!

For further reading: Reduce Food Waste Through These Simple Packaging Design Tips!