It’s happened to all of us: you’re looking for something in the freezer, fridge, or pantry and discover food that has been forgotten. Your first impulse is to throw it out, but wait! Is it still good? Chances are it is! 

According to the European Commission, an estimated 10 percent of the EU’s 88 million annual tonnes of food waste are related to date labeling. Misinterpretation of labels such as best by and best before causes consumers to purge their refrigerators of perfectly edible food. What people might not realize is date labels are not generally regulated by governments but rather set arbitrarily by manufacturers.

“53% of EU consumers do not know the meaning of best before labelling” , European Parliament, 2017. 

Source: Statista, Tafel Deutschland, 2020

What exactly do these dates mean? 

Use By 

What does it mean? Indicates that the food item is safe to eat until this date. Eating the item past this date may put your health at risk.

Where is it used? On chilled, fresh, and perishable items. 

So what do I do? Once opened, follow advice on packaging such as ‘eat within three days of opening’ or freeze it to extend its life. 

Best Before or Best By

What does it mean? Indicates that the food item is at its optimal quality until this date. It may still be safe to eat after this date, though it might have lost some of its flavor or texture. The date is purely an estimation from the manufacturer on when food is at its peak quality.  

Where is it used? On a wide range of frozen, dried, tinned, and canned food items. 

So what do I do? The best before date will only be accurate if you store the item according to the instructions on the label (i.e store in a cool, dry place). Once opened, treat the item as fresh and follow advice such as ‘eat within three days of opening’. But many people throw away food as soon as it passes this date – without evaluating whether it’s still edible. 

To prevent this from happening, Swiss food companies are adding another line: “often good for longer” [oft länger gut / souvent bon après]. The initiative comes from the creators of the Swiss branch of Too Good To Go, an app that allows consumers to save perfectly good, surplus food from local stores. This new way of labeling products should encourage consumers to use their senses to determine whether foodstuffs at home are still safe to eat.

Source: Own illustration

Do you think people can tell the difference between expired and fresh best before labeled products? Watch this video to find out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMw4t6CiImQ

StixFresh

Roughly a third of all the food produced around the world goes to waste. But now an innovator has come up with a way of making fruit last longer by simply applying a sticker. It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?

“The sticker acts in the same way as the natural protections used by plants themselves. Simply sticking one to a piece of fruit can extend its shelf life by up to two weeks”, says Zhafri Zainudin, inventor of StixFresh.

Going to waste

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended food supply chains, leaving fruit and vegetables to rot because they cannot reach buyers in time. Fresh fruit and vegetables contribute to almost 50% of the food waste generated by EU households.

Source: Statista, UNEP Food Waste Index Report, 2021

StixFresh stickers will help reduce food waste, tackle hunger, and improve health by giving more time to get fruit to consumers before it goes bad. 

So how does it work? 

The stickers, which are the size of a 50 cent piece, use 100% natural ingredients which replicate the antimicrobial compounds that plants use to protect themselves against post-harvest diseases. Once the sticker is attached to the fruit, the chemicals spread out to create a protective layer covering the surface of the fruit and slowing the ripening process. 

Future goals 

The stickers work best on apples, avocados, citrus fruits, and mangoes. StixFresh’s team is now working on new versions that will enhance the shelf life of berries and vegetables as well. By reducing food waste they hope to help farmers, distributors, retailers, and consumers save money, while at the same time protecting the environment. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1Njemplq9Y&t=92s

Don’t let perfectly good food items go to waste. If we value food more, we will also waste less. Together we can manage to show food again the appreciation it deserves! 

Click here if you want to know more about food waste:

What Everybody Ought to Know About Food Waste

5 Urgent Interventions to Reduce Food Loss and Waste