{"id":1940,"date":"2016-05-27T08:03:54","date_gmt":"2016-05-27T15:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/re-tales.net\/?p=1940"},"modified":"2016-05-27T08:03:54","modified_gmt":"2016-05-27T15:03:54","slug":"some-common-sense-on-food-labeling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/?p=1940","title":{"rendered":"Some Common Sense on Food Labeling"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u00a0 \u00a0So here’s a law that finally makes sense and could possible reduce food waste in our country, which is a major problem<\/a>. \u00a0As someone who deals with outdated products on a regular basis, I see a lot of food being tossed well before its expiration date just to be on the safe side and not get in trouble with government agencies. \u00a0 Sadly, where I work the food isn’t even donated, it’s just tossed into the dumpster, in some cases 30 days before it could be construed as unsafe to eat. As to whether or not the law (The Food Date Labeling Act) will get passed it’s hard to tell, but it’s a step in the right direction. \u00a0Next we need stricter laws on throwing away food (some countries like France have laws against throwing away food<\/a>) so that homeless people aren’t going hungry while we throw boxes of crackers into the trash because they’re possibly going to be a little stale in 30 days.<\/p>\n

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You might soon be able to quit sticking jars of mayo in your roommate\u2019s face and asking, \u201cDoes this seem okay to eat?\u201d A piece of legislation called The Food Date Labeling Act would force companies to use clearer language when informing us of the \u201csell by\u201d date on packaged foods, letting you know once and for all whether rolling the dice will result in an extended session with your toilet bowl or just a slightly less tasty lunch. The members of Congress behind it\u2014Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine)\u2014are also hoping it\u2019ll help curb that buzzed-about problem-du-jour: food waste.<\/em><\/p>\n

The act would standardize labeling so that \u201cbest if used by\u201d will refer to quality, and \u201cexpires on\u201d will let you know something is no longer safe to consume. While the former will be printed on shelf-stable goods, the latter will be on those items that can cause serious health issues if expired, like dairy and eggs. Unlike debates about what \u201cnatural\u201d means<\/a> or whether products containing genetically modified ingredients<\/a>should be labeled, this one seems rather clear cut.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

In addition to the national system it would institute for date labeling, it would also \u201censure that food is allowed to be sold or donated after its quality date, and educate consumers about the meaning of new labels so that they can make better economic and safety decision,\u201d according to Pingree\u2019s website<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Marsha Cohen, a professor at UC Hastings College of the Law who specializes in food and drug law, thinks it has the possibility of cutting food waste if handled properly. \u201cI’m sure [the Food Date Labeling Act] will leave a lot to FDA and USDA to work out,\u201d she says. This means looking at these possible label changes from a number of angles. Cohen points out that a \u201cbest by\u201d or \u201cexpires on\u201d label in San Francisco, where the climate is rather cool, will mean something different than it does in Phoenix, where it\u2019s hot, and these factors need to be taken into account. \u201cThe devil is in the details,\u201d she says, \u201cnot just in creating some standardization for what kind of data you use for an expiration date. Safety can depend a lot on how a product is handled and so can quality.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

It is, she believes, an opportunity to instruct consumers on how to be smarter in the kitchen and to know when something is truly spoiled or can be salvaged. Pointing to her own experience, she notes how that can really decrease food waste: \u201cI’ve been told by food scientists, \u2018Mold on hard cheese? Cut it off.\u2019\u201d But if you know how to cook with, say, slightly sour milk, there will be less of it going into the garbage. \u201cI’m kind of maniacal about not throwing stuff out,\u201d Cohen admits.<\/em><\/p>\n

Even if the act doesn\u2019t pass, it\u2019s drawing attention to the impact of labeling on waste and how these date labels affect whether food can be donated to those in need\u2014a clear matter of importance to Congresswoman Pinigree, who also introduced The Food Recovery Act of 2015<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Maybe she should team up with her local freegans<\/a>?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

education<\/a> policy<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0So here’s a law that finally makes sense and could possible reduce food waste in our country, which is a major problem. \u00a0As someone who deals with outdated products on a regular basis, I see a lot of food being tossed well before its expiration date just to be on the safe side and Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-retail-trends"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1940"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1942,"href":"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1940\/revisions\/1942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}