Most Canadians oppose eliminating the “best before” dates on food packaging to reduce food waste, a recent survey shows.
Quebec showed the highest level of support for eliminating the “best before” date at 36 percent, followed by Saskatchewan at 28 percent. The lowest support was in Alberta, at 22 percent.
“In light of these results, it is obvious that the food safety culture in Canada is quite strong,” said Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab. “Unlike for grocers in Europe, removing ‘best before’ dates will likely be viewed as an unpopular gesture, at least for now.”
The survey was conducted to look at Canadians’ views of the argument that the “best before” dates lead to more food waste, with those who support the argument saying that consumers will be influenced by the expiry or “best before” dates labelled on food packages.
The Canadian food industry wastes an avoidable 8.79 million tonnes of potentially edible food every year, according to a 2022 report by Value Chain Management International, a food waste management company in Ontario, reported CBC News.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency also told CBC that it has “proposed changes to various aspects of food labelling, including making best-before dates clearer and easier to read,” in response to consumer needs.
“The results of the survey open up some rich perspective into Canadian consuming habits. It really depends on the sub-category of food, with greater perceived risk of animal-based foods and prepared foods perishability, which can carry greater health threats if the items are going bad,” said Dr. Mark Juhasz, a research associate at the Agri-Food Analytics Lab.
“There is a broad spectrum of Canadian consumer habits taking place, some more inclined towards trusting the food product, and others more risk-averse. This is a fertile ground for more research, maybe even comparing perceptions of ‘best before’ compared to expiry dates.”
The survey found that consumers follow different methods to determine whether a food product is safe to eat or not. While 28 percent of Canadians will look for the presence of mold, 25 percent will rely on the “best before” dates as an indicator of food safety. Another 20 percent will rely on smell, and 17 percent will rely on the appearance of the food product itself.
When the respondents were asked how often they look at the “best before” dates, the survey found that frequency varies greatly depending on the food category. A total of 73 percent of Canadians will always check the “best before” dates for dairy products, while only 32 percent will look at dates for packaged foods/non-perishables.
The survey also looked at how the “best before” dates impact Canadians’ shopping and consumption behaviour. It found that 44 percent have bought a discounted food product for which the “best before” date had passed, 78 percent consumed food after its “best before” date had passed, and 65 percent have thrown out unopened food because its “best before” date had passed.
“The results really point to food safety contradictions in Canada,” the survey said. “While many Canadians are willing to buy and consume food after the ‘best before’ date has passed, many will throw away unopened food products.”
The survey was conducted in August 2022, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent, 19 times out of 20.
