"Best by" not "throw me away now" on food packaging

When most, if not all, of us see the “best by” or “sell by” on our tuna cans or syrup or barbecue sauce, we usually throw it away in the light of the fact we assure it is no longer good for us to consume. With milk, the date label on our gallon is the day our milk begins to smell by the rim it tastes sour, however, that is not the case with all foods.

In the link below, the website page includes how 90% of Americans throw out their still-fresh food since it is seemed to be expired. ReFED is an organization who is trying to prevent food waste. Their research has led to about $29 billion of wasted money customers have spent on food. Standardize date labeling is said to believe to be a way we can reduce the amount of money spent on food that ends up in a dump by eliminating the dates on food packaging because it leads people to believe that is when their food is no longer good when in fact their food may not be the best quality, but it is fresh enough for someone to eat with no problems.

No longer adding the date labels to food packaging can result in lower food waste and fewer fines since retailers who have past-date products on their selves in their stores is illegal. Customers, retailers, and manufacturers all benefit from not longer having the date labels. Despite wanting to remove the labels, other language to keep people aware of the freshness of their food can be by stating “best if used by” and “manufacturer's suggestion only”.

http://www.refed.com/solutions/standardized-date-labeling