Adding a Safety Date to a Freshness Date Label Reduces Premature Food Disposal

Packaged perishable foods often display one of two date label formats: a freshness date (e.g. “Best before,” “Best if used by”) or a safety date (e.g. “Use by”). Many consumers misinterpret a freshness date as a safety date and infer that the food is unsafe, leading to the premature disposal of edible food. This article offers a viable solution to this form of consumer food waste. We suggest that displaying both freshness and safety dates (i.e. a combined date label) can reduce premature food disposal. Across four studies, we investigate the impact of date-label formats on consumers’ food-disposal decisions after the freshness date has passed. The results show that a combined date label, relative to a freshness date label, reduces date-label confusion and, in turn, premature food disposal. We discuss the implications of these findings for date-label policy and contemporary retail packaging.