'Best if used by': The FDA renders its decision on food expiration date labels

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'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.
 
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