The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have jointly issued a Request for Information relating to date labeling of food products.  At issue are the terms “Sell by”, “Use by” and “Best by”.  The objective of the request for information is to gather comments from producers and consumers relating to date labeling in the context of food waste and cost.  Information will be obtained on consumer perceptions concerning the semantics of alternative approaches to date labeling.  This action was taken in accordance with the National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste.

The FDA Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods, Jim Jones, noted that there is considerable confusion as to home storage resulting in extensive food waste.  He noted, “The FDA is committed to doing all that we can to support informed and sound decisions that are good for U.S. consumers.”

 The USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety, Dr. Emilo Esteban, stated, “Through this Request for Information, we hope to learn more about how date labels are determined and whether they confuse consumers leading to needless food waste.”

USDA estimates that a typical family wastes $1,500 annually on discarded food. It is calculated that 17 million tons of wasted food is consigned to landfills each year by U.S. retail, restaurant and domestic sectors.

The FDA and USDA will allow 60 days for comments on 13 questions that appear in the Federal Register.