New rule needed to cut down on food waste

Under a government initiative, about 40 food producers, wholesalers and retailers – such as operators of convenience stores and supermarkets – decided to start reviewing their trade practices concerning the best-before date of processed foods. This is a first step forward in the effort to reduce food waste.

In the food production and retail industries, there is a trade practice called the “one-third rule”. Under this rule, foodstuff is to be delivered to retailers in the first third of the period from the food production date to the best-before date, while in the remaining two-thirds of the period the food is to be sold by retailers.

When the time limit for delivery passes, food is returned from wholesalers to producers, and most of it is discarded, a leading factor in the increase in food loss.

Starting next month, the 40 companies will change the one-third rule and extend the time for delivery to retailers to half of the period from production date to best-before date, if only for certain types of processed food such as confectionery and beverages. This will reduce food inventories but it may also reduce the amount of food discarded.

Trimming the costs needed for returning and discarding products, and for managing inventories, can lower products’ prices, which will benefit consumers.

Unless the review of the one-third rule spreads through the entire industry, however, the effect of reducing food waste will be limited. Therefore, it is important for the government to help increase the number of businesses adopting the new rule. Businesses also need to make efforts to develop new technologies to improve containers and packaging to extend the best-before date.

It is also necessary to raise consumers’ awareness about food waste, primarily because households account for half of all food loss. The government must proactively work to raise consumers’ awareness.

The one-third rule has taken root in our society primarily because consumers prefer to buy fresher goods. The best-before date for processed food is considered to mark the end of the period during which the food tastes best. But even if food passes its best-before date, there is no need for it to be discarded right away. The best-before date is different from the expiration date for perishable food (which means one should not consume it for safety reasons beyond that date).

If consumers excessively seek freshness in foodstuffs, prices are likely to rise, which would be against the interests of the consumer. Although it is important for consumers to take food safety seriously, they should refrain from being too particular about freshness.

With the global supply-and-demand situation for foodstuffs tightening, Japan depends on imports for as much as 60 per cent of its food. All of society should be making an effort to reduce food loss.