The method of marking the expiration date is one of the main causes of food waste. Not only in Poland, but also throughout Europe – said journalist and ecological educator Sylwia Majcher on TVN24. As she noted, that is why the European Commission is working on changes in this matter. – The expiration date would completely disappear from many products – she noted.
September 29 is International Food Waste Awareness Day. – The expiration date is 45 years. It was introduced in 1979. At the same time, this expiration date is more for producers – said Sylwia Majcher, journalist, ecological and culinary educator, author of books on food use, on TVN24 on Sunday.
As she added, at the moment European Commission I am working on changing the expiration date on labels. – Or that the expiry date of many products disappears altogether. Because this is one of the main causes of food waste. Not only in Poland, but also in Europe – added Majcher.
In Poland alone, we waste nearly 5 million tons of food every year.
As the journalist pointed out, the EC is considering marking the expiry date of products, similar to traffic lights. – So the red color on the packaging would mean that it is a sensitive product. Yellow – moderately. And green, so you can eat calmly for much longer – said the TVN24 guest.
Two types of expiration date marking
Sylwia Majcher noticed that “we have two types of expiration dates” on products. The first one is “best eaten before”. – This is the manufacturer's suggestion that until this moment, this product will retain all its qualities – taste and visual. But this does not mean that the product can be thrown away the next day after this date, she said.
– We can safely eat dry products after the expiry date. A study was carried out in which products were checked a week, a month – up to half a year – after they expired, and it turned out that all dry products, i.e. groats, pasta, rice, could easily be eaten longer. Nothing happened to them – especially microbiologically – nothing happened. They were safe for us to eat, she added.
At the same time – as she emphasized – they must be stored properly, i.e. away from light and high temperatures.
The second type of marking is “use by”. – This is the date for very sensitive products, meat and dairy products. And here we have to be more careful, she said.
– But there is already such a campaign run by many producers “Often good longer.” So when we have a product whose expiration date is set for a specific day, we should check ourselves – by looking at the product, assessing its taste and visually – whether it is definitely suitable for waste and whether we can eat it. On the packaging of products from manufacturers participating in this campaign there are markings – try, taste it, don't throw it away right away – which is often good for longer – explained Sylwia Majcher.
Obligations of food sellers
In Poland, there is an Act of July 19, 2019 on counteracting food waste, which “specifies the rules for dealing with food and the obligations of food sellers in order to counteract food waste and the negative social, environmental and economic effects resulting from food waste.” This document imposes certain obligations on large-scale retail establishments, i.e. it concerns the sale of food.
As we read on the government website biznes.gov.pl, entrepreneurs who are obliged to prevent food waste, i.e. stores or wholesalers with a sales area of over 250 m2, in which the revenue from food sold is at least 50 percent. revenues from the sale of all goods, must:
– sign a contract with a non-governmental organization regarding the donation of unsold food
– conduct information and educational campaignsin cooperation with the non-governmental organization to which they donate food – at least once a year, for two consecutive weeks
– submit annual reports on the amount of food wasted – by March 31 of the year following the year to which the information relates
– include information on the amount of the fee due for food waste or about the value of food donated to non-governmental organizations, in the financial report and on their website, if they run one.
The penalty for not having a contract is PLN 5,000. zlotys. However, in the case of throwing away food instead of transferring it to the organization with which the contract was concluded, it is PLN 0.1 per 1 kg of wasted food. This organization then receives it.
These regulations apply to food that is past its expiration date or minimum durability date, or that has defects in appearance (including packaging).
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