Gov't To Relax Food Expiration Laws

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: Govt eyes longer food shelf-life guidelines
Two government ministries have announced a proposal to amend the agricultural standards law to encourage food producers not to set excessively short shelf lives for products in a bid to reduce the amount of edible food that is discarded, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Health, Labor and Welfare ministries plan to soon revise the application guidelines of the Japanese Agricultural Standards Law on foodstuff expiration dates. The amendment's key point would have producers display a rough date that is not overly cautious. Under existing guidelines, a product's expiration date should be calculated by multiplying by a "factor of less than one" the length of the period in which it can be scientifically judged to have no safety or quality problems. The new guidelines would have producers display on goods an expiration date calculated by multiplying the period by a minimum factor, "with [a factor] of about 0.8 or more being advisable." Companies in the confectionary industry were found in a survey conducted by the farm ministry and other bodies to commonly calculate product shelf life by a coefficient of between 0.6 and 0.7. This method reportedly has resulted in the setting of relatively short best-before periods. In addition, a major distribution company utilizes business practices such as setting delivery deadlines at one-third of the time between the production date and the best-before date. The ministries believe such methods are tantamount to having "no legal grounds" and are urging voluntary restraint on the part of food producers.

It might seem that this is just a loophole to let manufacturers sell some stale food to consumers but it does seem as if the expiry date standards are overly strict in Japan. By making them a bit more realistic, they may be able to cut down on food waste which is a sizeable issue for the country. The one exception to this state of affairs is the banana which seems to rot at accelerate speeds in Japan. However, no-one can buy those at the moment so it's a moot point.

[Bucky]

Are the dates "Sell By" or "Consume By" dates in most cases?

In the US, there are "Sell By" dates and "Best if Used By" dates.

Or, does it depend on the product?

[bolt_krank]

Don't worry - if it causes any illnesses, they'll just say it came from China.

[Yokohammer]

Don't worry - if it causes any illnesses, they'll just say it came from China.

And if it becomes a logistics problem they'll just forge the expiry dates.

[Ketou]

The Milk here always seems to last about 3 weeks longer than the use by date....dunno if that's because of strict dating or "additives"...

[TFG]

Perhaps they are trying to fix a new Expiration date on the New PM Mr. Asshole!

[Doctor Stop]

More like:

"Two government ministries have announced a proposal to amend the agricultural standards law to encourage food producers not to set excessively short shelf lives for products in a bid to reduce the number of times that they will relabel them with falsified expiry dates after the true expiry dates have lapsed, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned."