Adding a safety date to a freshness date label reduces premature food disposal

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Kim, Hyoje Jay and Jin, Hyun Seung and Janiszewski, Chris and Ban, Joowon (2026) Adding a safety date to a freshness date label reduces premature food disposal. Business & Society. pp. 1-38. ISSN 1552-4205 (https://doi.org/10.1177/00076503261449363)

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Abstract

Packaged perishable foods often display one of two date label formats: a freshness date (e.g. “Best before,” “Best if used by”) or a safety date (e.g. “Use by”). Many consumers misinterpret a freshness date as a safety date and infer that the food is unsafe, leading to the premature disposal of edible food. This article offers a viable solution to this form of consumer food waste. We suggest that displaying both freshness and safety dates (i.e. a combined date label) can reduce premature food disposal. Across four studies, we investigate the impact of date-label formats on consumers’ food-disposal decisions after the freshness date has passed. The results show that a combined date label, relative to a freshness date label, reduces date-label confusion and, in turn, premature food disposal. We discuss the implications of these findings for date-label policy and contemporary retail packaging.

ORCID iDs

Kim, Hyoje Jay ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8802-8109, Jin, Hyun Seung, Janiszewski, Chris and Ban, Joowon;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)