Food date labels – often mistakenly called “expiration dates” – create confusion about what foods are good to eat and are a leading contributor to around 6 million tons of food waste in the U.S. annually – just shy of 7% of all wasted food that occurs in our country (ReFED).

In this webinar, Spoonfuls and the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic will bust the persistent myths around “expiration dates” on food, and set the record straight. We’ll discuss:

– The origins of food date labeling, including how a lack of federal regulation and the resulting state patchwork of date label legislation, causes consumer confusion and, more importantly, significant food waste;
– The impacts of that wasted food – on people, the planet, and on your wallet! – and what attendees need to know to make decisions about date labels on food in their home, using Spoonfuls’ own guidelines as a resource;
– The current policy landscape around improving date label standards and opportunities to support those efforts.

More about Spoonfuls: Spoonfuls, a Massachusetts-based food recovery organization and the largest food recovery operation in New England in terms of pounds recovered and towns and people reached, distributed more than 5.5 million pounds of food in 2024 – much of it close- or recently past-dated. Come learn from the Spoonfuls team how they work to maximize this still-good food to feed people — and how you, too, can rethink date labels in a quest to maximize the food you have.

More about the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic: Provides guidance on cutting-edge food system issues. For nearly a decade, its team has been working on the issue of standardization of date labeling as a waste reduction measure. Research shows that current date labeling practices that lack federal standardization along with a patchwork of state labeling laws confuse consumers, stymie industry coordination, and result in billions of dollars of food waste each year. FLPC contributes reports, legal guides, surveys and advocacy to much needed food date label reform.

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Liz Miller, Senior Community Relations Manager, Spoonfuls

Akif Khan, Clinical Fellow, Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic

​April 9  |  9:00am-9:50am PT/ 12:00pm-12:50pm ET

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