Lawmakers on Wednesday introduced legislation to establish a uniform national date labeling system to simplify regulatory compliance for companies and reduce food waste.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) called the variety of labels — such as “sell by,” “use by” and “expires on” — confusing to consumers, adding that the confusion contributes to 90 percent of Americans prematurely tossing perfectly safe food.
“Items at the grocery store are stamped with a jumble of arbitrary food date labels that that are not based on safety or science. This dizzying patchwork confuses consumers, results in food waste, and prevents good food from being donated to those who need it most,” Blumenthal said in a news release.
The Food Date Labeling Act would establish a uniform national system for date labeling that clearly distinguishes between foods that bear a label indicating peak quality from foods that bear a label indicating they may become unsafe to consume past the date. The bill would also ensure that food is allowed to be sold or donated after its quality date and educate consumers about the meaning of new labels so that they can make better economic and safety decisions.
The announcement comes on the heels of a report by the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic and other groups that concluded that consumer confusion over date labels is a significant factor contributing to food waste.
About 40 percent of the food produced in the United States goes uneaten, resulting in 62.5 million tons of wasted food each year, the groups said. Consumers interpret date labels to mean that the food is no longer safe to eat.
“Without uniformity in the system, consumers are tossing out millions of pounds of perfectly healthy and safe food because a mishmash of labeling practices are telling them it's the right thing to do,” added Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumer League. “America's food waste — throwing out 25 percent of the food we buy — has environmental, financial, and moral consequences, and the food waste epidemic is at a tipping point.”