About 40 percent of the food produced in the United States remains uneaten and goes to waste. Much of that comes from supermarkets and restaurants, but individual households also discard more food than necessary. Billions of pounds of perfectly good food, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, are thrown out every year due to overstocking and confusion over expiration dates. One of the main culprits in this colossal wastefulness is the convoluted labeling system that is supposed to determine expiration dates for perishable goods. The dates printed on packaged food products, which are designed to let manufacturers indicate peak quality, help retailers with stocking, and inform consumers about the best time period for use are vastly inconsistent and even misleading.
The post Too Much Food Is Wasted, In Part Because of Confusing Labeling appeared first on Timi Gustafson, R.D. | How to Eat Right and Still Have Fun.