U.S. Government Accountability Office GAO recommends the USDA鈥檚 Food Safety and Inspection Serice (FSIS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) work with stakeholders outside the federal government to reduce consumer confusion about date labels that contribute to food wast.
Almost one-third of the U.S. food supply is lost or wasted at the retail and consumer levels, according to USDA. A new GAO report says date labeling confusion contributes to food waste.
When consumers cannot be sure about when food has expired, they often follow the adage鈥� 鈥淲hen in doubt, throw it out.鈥� GAO says both the USDA鈥檚 Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are researching the issue.
鈥淯SDA and FDA have coordinated on some initiatives focused on date labels on packaged foods, 鈥� GAO reports. 鈥淔or example, agency officials said they were working together to develop information for food banks, food donors, and recipients of donated food on how to interpret date聽labels, so food past the date on the label鈥揵ut otherwise wholesome鈥搃s not wasted.
USDA and FDA have both produced consumer education materials to help cut the confusion caused by date labels, including their work with state, local, and tribal jurisdictions. 聽USDA and FDA 鈥渃ould better assure that approaches they take to address consumer understanding of date labels are effective in helping reduce consumer confusion, GAO said.