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

fortune.com

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

#21

Post by ttyprintk »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #13
digital-cygnet wrote: post #10

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…

[flagged]

No, the confusion is over the price of an item beyond its magical date. The pipelines producing milk and eggs perpetually need shelf space tomorrow, so the date is an ordinal signal. These rules are the same independent of the political persuasion of the farmers and grocers involved.

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

#22

Post by adamredwoods »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #11

>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"?

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

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

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

#23

Post by audunw »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #11

>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"?

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”

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

#25

Post by homebrewer »

iterateoften wrote: post #17

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 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.

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

#26

Post by ttyprintk »

jjk166 wrote: post #6
argiopetech wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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.

But pay attention to recalls.

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

#27

Post by rramadass »

DamonHD wrote: post #2

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.

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.

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

#28

Post by s1artibartfast »

audunw wrote: post #23
s1artibartfast wrote: post #11

>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"?

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”

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

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

#29

Post by mytailorisrich »

iterateoften wrote: post #17

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…

>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.

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

#30

Post by candiddevmike »

ttyprintk wrote: post #21
s1artibartfast wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

No, the confusion is over the price of an item beyond its magical date. The pipelines producing milk and eggs perpetually need shelf space tomorrow, so the date is an ordinal signal. These rules are the same independent of the political persuasion of the farmers and grocers involved.

Do you think this will lead to some kind of price decay scheme based on freshness? I occasionally see something like but nothing regular enough to plan shopping around buying almost expired products.
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