Food labels: EU increasingly attentive to waste
In packaging, labeling plays a role that should not be underestimated, especially when it comes to food labels.
In fact, food packaging is controlled by very strict regulations, necessary for the protection of the final consumer. For this reason, the external labels generically report mandatory information on the product and possibly optional values, such as quality marks and recipes.
Aware of their importance, the European Union has proposed the creation of new food labels with the aim of reducing the huge waste still recorded today.
The new wordings proposed by the EU
Despite the EU’s goal of halving food waste by 2030, recent data on this issue is far from positive.
According to Eurostat, over 900 million tons of food waste are produced annually in the European Union, of which more than 60% comes from families, while the remainder is spread between restaurants and retail.
In fact, it seems that one of the main causes of waste is a wrong interpretation of the expiry date of food, often thrown away even before being finished..
Hence the need to propose new food labels capable of providing more specific information regarding the consumption of the products.
This policy provides for the introduction of the words “best before” and “often good after” with the aim of inviting consumers to assess the actual condition of the food.
Not all waste is… waste
The expression “best before” is very different from the peremptory “best before”. The first in fact refers to the organoleptic, gustatory or nutritional characteristics of the food and not to the possible damages that could occur if it were consumed after that date.
In these cases, therefore, the product is still healthy and edible even after the date indicated on the label, but it may have lost some of the characteristics mentioned.
However, waiting to know how the European Union will proceed on this topic, there are several apps that can be used to limit food waste and raise consumer awareness of reuse and reuse.
First of all ” Too good to go “, a mobile application for iOS and Android devices that allows the user to purchase unsold products at super-affordable prices from restaurants and shops registered on the app.