Canadians rely on 'best before' dates even if it causes food waste, study finds

Should Canada scrap 'best-before' dates on food? Sylvain Charlebois discusses how some countries are limiting the use of 'best-before' dates on food to reduce the amount of waste.

After some U.K. grocers removed “best before” dates on select food products, a new study found that the majority of Canadians prefer to keep these labels, even if getting rid of them could lead to reducing food waste.

The study, conducted by Dalhousie University in partnership with the Angus Reid Institute, found only 27 per cent of Canadians agreed to the idea of removing these labels from food products.

"Best before" dates determine how long an unopened product will retain its taste, freshness and nutritional value, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Such labels are unlike expiry dates, which are required only on certain foods such as meal replacements, nutritional supplements and baby formula. The agency says these foods have strict compositional and nutritional specifications that may not be met after the expiration date.

Major grocery store chains in the U.K., including Morrisons and Waitrose, have started removing their “use by” tags on dairy products and fresh produce. Morrisons announced their decision earlier this year to remove the label off their milk products in efforts to reduce 50 per cent of its stores food waste by 2030.

Of the 1,508 Canadians surveyed, the study found only 15 per cent said they would be willing to buy dairy products without a "best before" date. Additionally, 73 per cent of Canadians said they always look at the “best before” date on dairy products while 32 per cent said they do the same for packaged foods and non-perishables.

According to the National Zero Waste Council, on average 63 per cent of Canadian households throw away food that could have been eaten -- amounting to 2.2 million tonnes of food wasted in a single year.

While "best before" dates could help reduce avoidable food waste, Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, says factors such as quality and savings are too important to Canadians that rely on these labels.

“Canadians aren't necessarily willing to see ‘best before’ dates being eliminated. They rely on them to make choices at the grocery store, whether it's for freshness, quality, and savings,” Charlebois told CTVNews.ca in a telephone interview on Thursday.

Charlebois said a major part of food waste is linked to shoppers either forgetting to eat the food they buy, or throwing out food they deem unsafe to eat if it’s past the "best before" date, rather than inspecting the product. The study reported 28 per cent of Canadians will check their products for mould, while 25 per cent will solely rely on the “best before” date.

Additionally, Charlebois said Canadians favour “best before” labels so they can save money on discounted items that are close to reaching the date.

“The ‘best before’ dates are often used to have access to better deals, especially right now [with] inflation being at 10 per cent. Everyone is looking for those ‘enjoy tonight’ deals,” he said.

Charlebois said Canadians should consider "best before" dates as a general rule of thumb, rather than an ultimate deciding factor for all food products.

“Essentially the education is not there in Canada," he said.

"’Best before’ dates doesn't necessarily mean 'bad after,' because that’s not the case. The product is actually still good even though the ‘best before’ date has gone by.”