Reducing Food Waste Without Compromising Food Safety or Quality

According to the FDA, “Between the food industry and consumers, Americans are throwing out about a third of our food — about $161 billion worth each year.”

CKC’s waste-reduction efforts parallel those of the USDA, the FDA, the Food Marketing Institute, the Grocery Management Association, the National Restaurant Association and others.

Bringing Clarity to Food Date Labeling

A particular focus for these organizations is bringing clarity around food date labeling and what these dates mean for food quality and safety. According to the USDA, “Except for infant formula, dates are not an indicator of the product’s safety and are not required by Federal law.”

The Grocery Management Association and the Food Marketing Institute launched an initiative in 2017 to streamline the more than 10 different date labels on food packaging down to two – “Best if Used By” and “Use By” – to minimize confusion and the unnecessary disposal of safe and edible products. "Expiration Date" is no longer commonplace for food date labels and has been replaced by:

• “Best if Used By/Before” indicates when a product has the best flavor or quality but does not mean the food is expired or poor quality.
• “Use By” reflects the end of a product’s peak quality but doesn’t mean the food is expired and cannot be eaten. This date is often on packaged produce sold at retail. Produce and other perishable foods may deteriorate after the date passes, but if they have been stored correctly, these products are generally safe to eat until spoilage is evidenced by odor, discoloration, etc.
• “Sell By” is for retailers’ inventory management purposes and is not an expiration date.
• “Freeze By” indicates by when a product should be frozen to maintain peak quality. If a product has been frozen by this date and thawed correctly, it is safe to eat after the date. Often commodity products such as beef crumble, chicken patties and cheese come to CKC frozen and are held in cold storage until the date they’re to be prepped/served.

If CKC provides you with products, particularly prepackaged, individually wrapped items, after the date printed on the labels, rest assured they are safe to eat and of satisfactory quality. We often receive items prior to the date listed on the labels and promptly put them into our cold storage until the date they are prepped and/or served. Baked goods, such as tortillas and breakfast items, are examples of items we typically freeze.

As a food service provider and Certified Food Protection Managers, we would never compromise food safety or quality, or our company reputation by serving legitimately expired foods.

We appreciate your confidence in serving foods that may have a best-by date that has passed, being assured we have kept the foods stored in the best conditions.