Search

Australians unsure about food expiry labelling

We are an online community created around a smart and easy to access information hub which is focused on providing proven global and local insights about sustainability

22 Sep, 2024

This post was originally published on Sustainability Matters

Recent research has revealed that many Australians are unnecessarily throwing away food due to not clearly understanding the meaning of food date labels and storage advice. Each year, about one-third of all food in Australia is either lost or discarded.

The study’s lead author, Associate Professor Lukas Parker from RMIT University, said date labels were widely misunderstood by Australians because they were confusing.

“Consumers want clear, consistent and easy-to-read information,” he said.

“Date labels should be in a large font with contrasting colours so that they are easy to find and interpret.”

Use-by dates show the last day a product is safe to eat, while best-before dates show peak quality. Food should be safe past the best-before date if not damaged, deteriorated or perished.

The study showed that while many of the 125 consumers interviewed understood the difference between use-by and best-before dates, they often discarded food when it reached either date.

Older and retired Australians were less likely to worry about date labels, while young families were more likely to throw away food once past its best-before or use-by date.

The study found advice such as ‘store in a cool, dry place’ was interpreted as vague and unhelpful.

Parker said a solution could be labels with practical tips on properly storing food and sealing packaging. “Including specific temperature guidelines for storage on packaging would help,” he said.

“Particularly in a cost-of-living crisis, people need information on how to properly store and prolong the shelf life of food.”

Parker also recommended that people use their own senses to test the freshness of food, rather than over-relying on printed best-before dates.

“We need people to feel, touch and smell food, not just rely on its best-before date,” he said. “Fresh produce often doesn’t have date labels and we manage just fine, yet products like salt are often needlessly sold with best-before dates.”

Parker said that buying to eat, rather than to store, was a simple way for consumers to reduce food waste and save money. “Smaller, more frequent shops is a simple way to reduce your food waste,” he said.

“Having less food in our fridges and pantries means we’re more likely to use products quickly and throw less away.

“We all need to recognise that we waste food. Focus on what you do and what you can do next to reduce it.”

The research was conducted for End Food Waste Australia, a national organisation dedicated to improving the Australian food system’s productivity, resilience and sustainability. Parker and the team are working through the results of this latest study with government and industry representatives.

The report, published by RMIT University and the End Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre, can be read here.

Image credit: iStock.com/JackF

Pass over the stars to rate this post. Your opinion is always welcome.
[Total: 0 Average: 0]

You may also like…

Coca-Cola’s Plastic Waste Polluting Oceans Projected to Reach 1.3 Billion Pounds per Year by 2030: Oceana Report

Coca-Cola’s Plastic Waste Polluting Oceans Projected to Reach 1.3 Billion Pounds per Year by 2030: Oceana Report

Coca-Cola products will be responsible for up to 1.33 billion pounds of plastic waste making its way into the planet’s oceans and waterways each year by 2030 — enough to fill the stomachs of more than 18 million blue whales, according to a new report by nonprofit Oceana. Coca-Cola’s World With Waste projects that the […]
The post Coca-Cola’s Plastic Waste Polluting Oceans Projected to Reach 1.3 Billion Pounds per Year by 2030: Oceana Report appeared first on EcoWatch.

Climate Change Has Exposed Over 1,000 More Miles of Greenland’s Coastline in 20 Years: Study

Climate Change Has Exposed Over 1,000 More Miles of Greenland’s Coastline in 20 Years: Study

As our planet has experienced increased warming over the last several decades due to greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, glaciers around the world have been shrinking. An international team of scientists has found that global heating has, over the past two decades, melted enough of Greenland’s glacial ice that 1,006.6 more […]
The post Climate Change Has Exposed Over 1,000 More Miles of Greenland’s Coastline in 20 Years: Study appeared first on EcoWatch.

Wide-Ranging Biodiversity Study Highlights Destructive Global Impact of Humans

Wide-Ranging Biodiversity Study Highlights Destructive Global Impact of Humans

One of the largest studies ever conducted on biodiversity loss worldwide has revealed that humans are having a severely detrimental impact on global wildlife. The number of species is declining, as well as the composition of populations. “Biological diversity is under threat. More and more plant and animal species are disappearing worldwide, and humans are […]
The post Wide-Ranging Biodiversity Study Highlights Destructive Global Impact of Humans appeared first on EcoWatch.

0 Comments