There are concerns that open-date coding of foods has increased food waste. The food industry and consumers use the dates printed on food packages to manage stock rotation from food manufacturing plants to the consumer’s kitchen. Variation in terminology associated with open dates on consumer packages can result in the disposal of good food.
For some background, open-date labeling of consumer packaged foods began more than 40 years ago. The process was started to provide consumers with transparency of the shelf life of perishable foods at the time of purchase. Milk cartons were the initial product on which “sell-by” dates were imprinted. Today, open dates appear in some form on almost every consumer food package. A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service study conducted in 1971–1972 indicated that 60 retail food chains introduced some type of open-date labeling system. For uniformity reasons, the food industry supported the development of a model open-dating regulation in 1973.