The expiration dates on foods will change to “best before” dates from 2023. Why is it changing? People frequently threw away food that could be eaten because they mistakenly believed that ‘expired’ foods were unsafe to consume. As a result, a large amount of food waste was generated. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety decided to use the “best before” date to prevent this situation.
Expiration dates refer to when food can be distributed to markets and sold to consumers and is set at 60~70% of the time of food disposal. Therefore, it can be consumed a little after the expiration date. On the other hand, the best before date is set at 80~90% of the food disposal period. Food that has passed the best before date may still be edible, but it may have lost some freshness, taste, aroma, or nutrients. What about other countries? The European Union (EU), Australia, and Hong Kong mark best before dates by food. Experts also point out that as the introduction of the consumption deadline is a global trend, it is necessary to keep pace with it.
What will be the effect of changing from expiration to best before dates? Annual food waste disposal costs are expected to decrease by 16.5 billion won, and total food disposal costs are expected to save 890 billion won. In other words, unnecessary disposal can be avoided to reduce the social burden. Consumers will also be able to preserve and consume foods for a longer period. However, if the consumption deadline is changed, the timing of food sales may increase, slowing the circulation. Hygiene problems can occur depending on the vendor because due to different food storage methods. Accordingly, the most sensitive dairy products are subject to a consumption period of eight years.
There are more problems than one might think when changing from expiry to best before dates. There is a method of marking the expiration and best before dates together to solve this problem. When the dates are indicated together, administrative agencies and food companies find it easier to produce and manage during the distribution process. And consumers will have a wider range of food choices to store and consume.
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