12/10/2025
U.S. Department of Agriculture-FSIS and U.S. Food and Drug Administration last December sought input on industry practices and preferences, research on consumer perceptions and the impacts on food waste. FLPC reviewed public comment submissions, identified a set of shared concerns:
- Supply Chain Inefficiencies and Confusion: patchwork of state-level laws a point of difficulty
- Increased Food Waste and Health Risks: no standardized meanings, do not clearly indicate quality or safety; tossing safe food prematurely based on the date label or ignoring date labels, consuming food past discard date even for products risky past the date.
- Financial Losses: Tossing food solely on the date label, families to retailers, suffer heavy financial losses; Food recovery organizations spend precious funding toward training staff, educating donors, raising awareness on proper handling of past-date food products.
>>comments across all stakeholder types identified federal date label standardization as the best solution to the issues caused by the current patchwork system
By Akif Khan, Clinical Fellow As many of us across the country buy food, prepare meals, and serve loved ones this Thanksgiving, it is important to remember that the abundance of the holidays […]
