WIREDGOV

The Food Standards Agency is seeking views on new date-marking guidance it has drawn up to assist industry when deciding appropriate date marks to use on food products.

Under European Union (EU) food law, pre-packed food is required to carry one of two types of date marks: the ‘best before’ and the ‘use by’ date marks. It is up to food businesses to decide what date labels they should put on food products. The Government produced guidance for industry on this over ten years ago, which was re-issued by the Agency in 2003.

In February 2009, the Waste and Resource Action Programme (WRAP) and the FSA hosted a joint event on date marking and food waste, at which it was agreed that the FSA guidance on 'use by' dates should be updated.

The updated guidance should help food businesses set date-marks in a way that is more appropriate and more consistent. This updated guidance should help improve consumer confidence around the use of date marks.

The guidance sets out key principles that should be considered by food businesses when determining date marks, including a flow chart to aid the date-marking decision-making process. A simplified two-page version of the guide to legal compliance is also being issued in order to help small businesses.

The revision of this guidance is an important step in a wider programme of work being undertaken by Defra, WRAP, and the FSA, who are working closely with industry to identify and implement appropriate changes to practice which will help consumers better understand the date labels.

The consultation closes on Wednesday 16 June 2010. The Agency will then consider the responses when finalising the draft guidance.