Food Label Standardization By 2018

Unclear labels are a huge issue when it comes to food waste. 

We've all thrown out food from our refrigerator that was past it's expiration date.  What most people don't know is that the date on food products is not always telling you when it expires; sometimes, the date is an indicator of when the food will no longer be at its "peak flavor."  As a result, we end up throwing out food that is still perfectly safe to eat.

Advocates have been seeking a more concrete labeling system for years; the differences between "Sell By," "Best If Used By," "Use Before," "Expires On," and the other varying labels are just too subtle.  

As of a few weeks ago, the two largest grocery trade groups, the Food Marketing Institute and the Grocery Manufacturers Association, landed on two universal labels: "Use By," which indicates when a product is no longer safe to eat, and "Best if Used By," which indicates when a product may no longer be at its peak quality.  Although this new labeling system is voluntary, we hope that most manufacturers will get on board and have these labels widespread by 2018. For more info, check out the original article from The Washington Post.

Decoding Animal Welfare Labels

Buying meat and egg products has never been
more confusing.

Although organic certification comes from the USDA, humane certification is a whole other sector.  Turns out, there are multiple non-profits that give out animal welfare certifications, and each has slightly different requirements. For those of you who are thinking, "Don't all organic farms treat their animals kindly?" this is unfortunately not always the case. 

Organic farms have certain humane regulations that they must meet, but the extent to which those regulations are carried out and enforced can often be determined by the farm.  On the flip side, not all farms that are humanely raising meat are certified organic.  If both factors - organic and humane - are important to you, then you need to look out for two separate labels.

A recent article in The New York Times decided to parse out the differences between the top three animal welfare certification organizations (right), as well as point out some of the controversies that exist within this labeling system.  We recommend that you give it a read!