Nearly every item of food we buy comes stamped with an expiration date. Even canned food, pickled food, and processed food (which can all last decades) are labeled. This label has power. Consumers won’t buy food past it’s ‘sell by’ date, and so grocery stores are forced to throw it away [1]. If a person finds food in their cupboard that’s “expired”, they’ll likely toss it out. One study found that 20% of household food waste in the UK could be attributed to a misinterpretation of expiration dates [2]. Wasting usable food, when so many people in the country are food insecure, is outrageous. But it’s necessary for public health, right?
Actually, it may not be. Food expiration dates are actually only legally required (nationally) on infant formula [3]. Although some states also necessitate other products like dairy, meat, or vegetables, nowhere is it required that, say, a box of crackers have an expiration date. Expiration date labels became popular during the 60s, as consumers grew further removed from the production of their food and began to worry about the freshness of its ingredients [4]. However, most food can still be safely consumed days, if not weeks, past it’s supposed expiration date [5]. In a world of constrained resources and food scarcity, can we really afford to keep throwing away food over an arbitrary number?
Energy, Environment & Society 
Great post to have some evidence behind some of the stuff we saw in the videos. A quick thought: If companies were to completely eliminate the labeling, I think the issue would arise again of consumers worrying about their freshness and the labels would simply come back. However, I think there may be value in labeling food with an absolute date past which food should not be consumed, which is essentially how we treat the current labels that we have. Using this more extended date would help keep food on shelves longer so they are sold and consumed while keeping the peace of mind of the consumers.
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