Have best-before dates hit their expiration? Feds consider recommendation

We could see a change in policy around best-before dates in Canada in an effort to reduce food waste.

It’s one of a dozen recommendations made by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-food, the intent of which is to address rising food costs.

The report, Grocery Affordability: Examining Rising Food Costs in Canada, was presented to the House on June 13. The report cited record-level acceleration of food prices through the Consumer Price Index, and record profits from grocery retailers in recent years.

One recommendation made was by Lori Nikkel, who serves as CEO of Canada’s largest food rescue organization, Second Harvest. She writes in the report that best-before dates on packages are “wildly misunderstood.”

“They are not expiry dates. They refer to a product’s peak freshness. While Canadians struggle to put food on the table, they are also convinced that best-before dates are about safety and will throw away perfectly good food to protect themselves and their families,” she wrote.

“Eliminating best-before dates would prevent safe, consumable food from being thrown out and save Canadians money on their grocery bills.”

The report goes on to explain how greenhouse gas emissions resulting from food waste are higher than those associated with manufacturing packaging materials, in reference to Canada’s move to ban single-use plastics.

“Rather than eliminating plastics, the Council encourages greater innovation in the packaging sector to ensure food producers have access to alternative materials,” the report states.

Along with the recommendation to reexamine best-before dates, the committee is urging the federal government to partner with non-profit organizations and large food retailers to come up with programs that can help divert food waste.

There are also recommendations for the feds to provide better financial support for farmers and the agri-food sector, improve data collection on the food supply chain, and the development of a mandatory “grocery code of conduct” that covers food and essential products in stores.

-With files from Kris McCusker