cheryl
Administrator
Staff member
'Best if used by': The FDA renders its decision on food expiration date labels - Winston Salem Journal
The Food and Drug Administration weighed in Thursday on a question that Americans have struggled with for years: Is it OK to eat that recently excavated item from your fridge past the date stamped on the label?
Until now, the answer was it depends. Food product makers used a confusing array of more than 50 descriptions on grocery items: “use before,” “sell by,” “expires on.”
Industry and advocates agreed that was confusing for consumers — and a driver of food waste, with people tossing food that was perfectly safe to eat.
Current date labels on packaged foods aren’t user-friendly, Frank Yiannas, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for food policy and response, said in a phone interview Wednesday.
The Food and Drug Administration weighed in Thursday on a question that Americans have struggled with for years: Is it OK to eat that recently excavated item from your fridge past the date stamped on the label?
Until now, the answer was it depends. Food product makers used a confusing array of more than 50 descriptions on grocery items: “use before,” “sell by,” “expires on.”
Industry and advocates agreed that was confusing for consumers — and a driver of food waste, with people tossing food that was perfectly safe to eat.
Current date labels on packaged foods aren’t user-friendly, Frank Yiannas, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for food policy and response, said in a phone interview Wednesday.