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Los Angeles County Food Redistribution Initiative (LACFRI)

Did You Know?

• In the US, nearly 27 million tons of food is wasted annually in households. - ReFED
• About 80% of food waste comes from perishable foods such as fruits, vegetables, dairy, grain products, meat, and seafood. Of these, the most wasted food items in homes are fruits and vegetables.
• "84% of Americans report occasionally throwing away food that is close to or past the date on the package; 37% do so always or usually." - Spotlight on Date Labeling Regulations, ReFED

Date Labels and "Expired" Food Products

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USDA) estimates that 30 percent of food is lost or wasted at the retail and consumer level. Confusion over the meaning of dates applied to food products can result in consumers discarding wholesome food.

Contrary to Popular Belief, the Vast Majority of "Expired" Foods Do Not Represent a Safety Hazard.

Except for infant formula and baby food (California Health and Safety Code, Section 114094.5), code dates represented with, for example, "sell by", "use by", "best by", "freeze by", "best before", or "best if used by" labels have no impact on food safety and only indicate quality/freshness.

Download the FoodKeeper App (free)

The USDA’s free FoodKeeper App will help you maximize the freshness and quality of food items. By doing so you will be able to keep items fresh longer (and out of the landfill) than if they were not stored properly. The FoodKeeper App was developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Food Safety and Inspection Service, with Cornell University and the Food Marketing Institute. Look up specific foods and beverages: Download FoodKeeper here for Apple App Store and Google Play devices , or view on your desktop .