The Prince George branch of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is reminding residents how to use best before dates on food.
In recent years, people from the north and across the country have become confused on the topic, leading to a colossal amount of food waste.
To learn more about how to best attack best before dates, here’s CFIA National Manager of Consumer Protection Market Fairness Division Jodi White.
“They are indications of quality and they are not safety dates. There are some safety-related dates called expiry dates but those are on very few foods while best before dates are quality and freshness related dates.”
“One of the main things in terms of consumer understanding is really about how the dates are used and that there is a high demand for marking on food as we do hear often consumers are interested in date labeling. In fact, we’ve been asked why more foods don’t have it.”
According to a recent study, Canadians are among the biggest food wasters in the world as almost every Canadian wastes or loses 881 pounds worth of food a year.
Right now, the federal body is currently looking at ways to overhaul the system thanks to a brand new initiative.
“On our side at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, we’re carrying out a program called the Food Labelling Modernization Initiative and we’re looking at a number of changes to labeling any of these is in the date-marking area and through this work we have proposed updates and this is in line with international standards to improve clarity for consumers and we’re still looking at requiring the year for best before dates.”
“Because of this interest, we really have to look at how consumers use date marking when they are using food labels because it can help choose foods with a shelf life that suit there needs so if dates are being looked at as a way of purchasing foods than they can use those to minimize waste in that respect,” explains White.
The CFIA’s Prince George office is located at 280 Victoria Street.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
