"Sell by Date", "Use by Date" or "Best before Date", all are confusing to an unsophisticated consumer but in their enthusiasm to safeguard the interests of their citizens different countries use different regulations to guide them during their purchase of foods from the market. From time to time there have been discussions regarding the advisability of date marking and its effect on food wastage. Australia is now seriously concerned with such wastage for which a solution needs to be found.
'Families are throwing out record amounts of edible food because of confusion over ''use-by'' and ''best-before'' labels, say environmental groups. An estimated $5.2 billion worth of food is wasted each year in Australia, with the bulk ending up in the bin because it is past its ''use-by'' or ''best-before'' date. More than $1.1 billion worth of fruit and vegetables are being thrown out, over $1 billion in uneaten takeaway food, $873 million in meat and fish and $241 million in frozen food, according to research by the independent think tank, Australia Institute. The main issue with food wastage in households, says action group Do Something's Jon Dee, is that many people mistakenly believe use-by and best-before are the same thing. Mr Dee said people were throwing out perfectly good food when it reached its best-before date when this was meant as a guide for shoppers. All packaged foods with a shelf life of less than two years must have a use-by or best-before date stamped on the box, wrapper or bottle. It is illegal to sell food past its use-by date because of the potential health or safety risk. Foods marked best-before may be sold after this date, provided the food has not deteriorated'.
Some time back a British Minister openly advised the UK citizens not to bother about "best before" dates on their food label and consume them for stretching their purchasing power. How far the consumers may be able to heed to this advice depends on the assurance given by the industry regarding the safety of "date-expired" foods. Can the industry give a categorical "safe before" date which can hep the consumer to discard such foods more easily. Since "keepability" of any food depends on many variable factors, industry needs technical inputs from food scientists to decide on these issues.
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