Market study on date marking and other information provided on food labels and food waste prevention

Market study on date marking and other information provided on food labels and food waste prevention

Date marking
Type
Author
European Commission
Publication Date
January, 2018
Country
EU
Language for original content
Scope
Sante Food Waste

As part of the Circular Economy Action Plan, the Commission is examining ways to improve the use of date marking by actors in the food chain and its understanding by consumers, in particular "best before" labelling. Better understanding and use of date marking on food, i.e. "use by" and "best before" dates, by all actors concerned, can prevent and reduce food waste in the EU.

In order to help inform its work on date marking, the Commission launched a study to map how date marking is used in the market by food business operators and control authorities.

The market study found wide variation in date marking practices within product categories surveyed in the EU. The legibility of date marks was judged to be poor for 11% of products sampled.