Food producers and retailers commit to simplify food date labels worlwide

Major food producers and retailers such as Tesco, Kellogg, Walmart, Campbell Soup, Bimbo, Pick n Pay, Nestlé, Carrefour and Unilever committed to the Consumer Goods Forum and Champions 12.3's call to simplify date labels and reduce food waste by 2020. The call asks for 1) only one label to be placed on food products at a time 2) use expiration dates for perishable items (for example, a 'Use by' label) or use a food quality indicator for non-perishable items (for example, a 'Best if used by' label) and 3) greater consumer education to better understand what date labels mean. [1] A study carried out by the European Commission in 2018 estimates that up to 10% of the 88 million tonnes of food waste generated annually in the EU are linked to date marking. [2]