Abstract
Food waste is largely considered one of the greatest
paradoxes of today: while millions of people in the world starve, we
waste an astonishing amount of the food we produce. One factor
that produces a substantial amount of food waste is the consumer
misinterpretation of food date labels, which are inconsistent,
confusing, and misunderstood. This study is a comprehensive
overview of the history of food dates in the United States, the
failures of the current system, an analysis of current consumer
perceptions of food dates, and concrete recommendations for
needed actions to solve this food date labeling crisis.