Is the food in the fridge still good? California wants to end the guessing game
California will soon help end the everyday household debate over whether the food in the fridge is still good to eat.
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So we're changing "Sell By" and "Best Before" to "Use By” and "Best if Used By”
I don't really see this helping food waste at the consumer end, but greatly benefits supermarkets by allowing products to remain on shelves longer and closer to spoilage.
However, in that case customers could have less margin to use their purchased groceries before they go bad.
I think this has a chance to backfire. There is greater incentive to dig around for the product with the most time. Those who frequently shop or most desperate would buy the items expiring sooner, but folks like me who only really check items I've been burned on, will start checking everything. I'm not buying a $3.99 head of lettuce with 2 days left.
EDIT: don't grocery stores already donate lots of near-expiration unspoiled food to support systems? I thought there was a organization in CA that coordinated all that. They may see a dip in donations.
I could be completely ignorant, but I don’t think I have ever seen two use dates on foods in the US before.
The eggs I buy in the UK have both a display date (for the shop) and a best before date (for the consumer). They're a week different. The best before date is probably around 28 days after the egg was laid.
What? An item wouldn't have both dates. But almost everything has at least one.
The article does seem to suggest two would be in use.
"It will require the use of “Best if Used By” label to signal peak quality and “Use By” label for product safety,*.
There will be two dates on products. "best of used by" is what you are used to and when grocery stores will most likely pull the product. "Use by" date will be a second date further out where you might want to actually throw it away.
