Food waste and best before dates

In an effort to reduce food waste, CentERdata, GFK, and ECORYS, on behalf of the European Commission Consumers, Health, and Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (CHAFEA) offered visitors to the Milan Expo 2015 different information about the “best by” labels on food products. The results suggest that before a product reaches its ‘best by’ date, having the information on the label results in less disposal. However, after the best by date having no information on the label reduces disposal (simply because the consumer does not know the product has expired).The inclusion of production dates did not significantly alter disposal rates.