GMA and the Food Marketing Institute today announced a new initiative to adopt standard wording on packaging about the quality and safety of products in a new industry-wide effort to reduce consumer confusion about product date labels.
Currently, there are more than 10 different date labels on consumer products packages – such as Sell By, Use By, Expires On, Better if Used By Best Before, Best By – which can result in confused consumers discarding a safe or usable product after the date on the package has passed.
The voluntary initiative streamlines the wide range of different date labels to just two standard phrases:
- BEST If Used By” or “BEST If Used or Freeze By” quality phrasing will indicate to consumers that after the specified date, the product may not taste or perform as expected but is safe to use or consume. For example, the quality of the product taste or texture may have diminished slightly or it may not have the full vitamin content indicated on the package.
- “USE By” or “USE or Freeze By” safety phrasing will inform customers that these products should be consumed by the date listed on the package. The product should not be consumed after the date on the package due to the product’s perishable nature, and the product should be disposed of. This date label is for perishable products with potential safety implications or material degradation of critical performance, such as nutrition.
The new standard calls for the words “BEST” and “USE” to be in all capital letters.
Retailers and manufacturers are encouraged to immediately begin phasing in the common wording with widespread adoption urged by the summer of 2018. Broad industry adoption of this new voluntary standard will occur over time so companies have flexibility to make the changes in a way that ensures consistency across their product categories.