Understanding and attitude regarding the shelf life labels and dates on pre-packed food products by Belgian consumers

Based on an on-line survey using questionnaires, information on Belgian consumers (n = 907) regarding their understanding and attitude towards shelf life labels and dates was collected. 80.1% of the respondents were familiar with the terminology of the label use by and best before while 69.6% indicated to know the difference between the meaning of the two labels. judging edibility of food products at home occurs mainly by a combination of checking visually and smelling (82.5%), followed by looking at the shelf life date (67.5%) or tasting (50.4%). About half of the consumers is aware of and appreciates the difference between the two labels during this judgment. Most of the consumers interpret shelf life labels and dates with some flexibility, with variation depending upon the type of food product under consideration. Overall, the share of consumers willing to eat expired refrigerated products was lower than for expired products stored at ambient temperature: 19.1% for refrigerated raw products (e.g. meat and fish); 34.7% for refrigerated ready-to-eat products (e.g. deli-meat, cheese products, smoked fish); 61.0% for canned products (e.g. conserves) and drinks (e.g. beer) and lastly 69.3% for other products generally stored at ambient temperature (e.g. bread, unopened UHT milk, chocolate, cereals). Differences linked to age and gender are discussed. The suboptimal understanding and application of the EU date label framework by consumers may lead on the one hand to increased food disease burden by consuming certain expired use by products allowing growth of pathogens. On the other hand discarding food at the shelf life data in case of a best before date contributes to food waste by consumers. A better understanding of the shelf life labels use by (referring to food safety) and best before dates (referring to food quality) by consumers should be promoted. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.