Book Description

Abstract: Open shelf-life dating means the use of comprehensible terms such as day, month, and year as an indication of when food was packaged or by when it should beused or sold. A survey revealed that 96 percent of consumers were concerned about food freshness; however, their awareness and comprehension of open dates varied considerably. The benefits of open dating concern food quality, nutrition, food safety, inventory, and education. The types of open dates are: date of pack or manufacture, pull date or sell-by date, best-if-used-by date, expiration or use-by date, or combination of the first four. Food shelf-life is dependent on time and environmental factors. The three alternative open dating systems are: voluntary, mandatory, and voluntary/mandatory. Enforcement and liability would depend on the system used, but Federal and state inspection systems would routinely survey the market. Various congressional options for open dating as well as technical information and the status of open dating in foreign countries are discussed.