Dive Brief:
- Harvard Law School and the Natural Resources Defense Council published a study on Wednesday that found dates on packaged food products may be doing more harm than good.
- Emily Broad Lieb, who led the report from the Harvard Law School's Food Law and Policy Clinic, explained that many consumers mistake freshness standards for safety recommendations, resulting in wasted food and money.
- The study's authors recommend instead that "sell by" dates should be invisible to consumers and only used for non-consumer purposes.
Dive Insight:
Judging from the results of this study, consumers might benefit from learning to judge food quality by sight and smell, rather than relying on straight numbers. Food retailers might benefit from educating their customers about these details as well, if the result turns out to be fewer unsold products sitting on shelves.