Best-before dates are notoriously misleading . Contrary to popular belief, they have nothing to do with food safety and everything to do with peak quality, as determined by the manufacturer. Food can be safe to eat after these dates, with the exact time window dependent on the product .
It may just be less flavourful, crunchy or colourful than if you had eaten it before. Too Good To Go , an app that connects eaters to unsold food at half the price or less, has launched a new labelling scheme in Canada. The “ Look-Smell-Taste ” label aims to help people reduce household food waste by reminding them that past-dated food can still be good to eat.
Cracker Barrel , Epic Tofu , Greenhouse , Kopi Thyme and Ristorante (Dr. Oetker) are among the 15 food brands that have placed Too Good To Go’s “Look-Smell-Taste” label alongside the best-before date for launch on June 18. Last year alone, 500-plus brands printed the label on more than six billion European products.
“We always say our competition is the bin,” says Andrea Li, country director of Too Good To Go Canada. “When we look, we smell, we taste, we’re making a good judgement. And we know that things are still edible and that best-before dates are very much an indicator of freshness versus food safety.
” Since its launch in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2016, Too Good To Go has expanded to 18 countries in Europe and North America, including France, Italy, the United States and Spain. The app launched in Canada in 2021,.
