New Zealand households are wasting an average $1300 each per year on unused food, and a misunderstanding of best before dates may be part of the reason.
Love Food Hate Waste has released research that shows that confusion over food date labels could mean millions of dollars' worth of food is binned unnecessarily each year. It is estimated that New Zealanders collectively waste about $3 billion worth of food every year.
Love Food Hate Waste's research showed one in 12 people incorrectly thought food should not be eaten after its best before date.
A third thought, "use by" was only a quality guide. One in eight threw out food when it was past its best before date without checking it.
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Best before dates are a quality guide, while use by dates are for food safety.
Love Food Hate Waste programme manager Sophie Wolland said the confusion was leading to "perfectly good" food being thrown away.
She said younger people were more likely to be unsure about date labels.
"There's a real lack of confidence around their understanding."
She said even people who understood the difference did not always treat food accordingly.
"That all comes down to confidence around being able to trust our senses… it just takes a sensory check [when something is past the best before date].
"But many people report that they're not entirely sure or don't have great confidence in what to look for when you're checking a product or when you're smelling it, what should I be smelling for?
"Or when you're giving it a taste, a lot of people are hesitant to even just taste a little bit for fear of safety. Again, the younger the age group, the higher the fear around safety.
"And the research showed that they say they were taught to just trust the date."
She said when people were assessing a product that was past its best-before date, they should check for damaged packaging or mould, or changes to the colour and texture.
"If everything's looking normal, then it's likely still good to go to the next step, which is smell it. So they just go open the food, give it a bit of a sniff. If it smells as they would expect, then it's likely good to go.
"If it's unusually sort of tangy, or has an eggy or rotten smell, or just sort of smells a bit off, then it probably is.
"But if it's as you expect, move on to giving it a small taste… you'll know pretty quickly if it's bitter or tangy or kind of rancid flavour, then you'll know, okay, that perhaps has spoiled."
She said if food was coming up to the use by date it could be put in the freezer to prolong its life.
"It's safe so long as once you remove it from the freezer and you defrost it, you need to eat it within 24 hours."
She said households estimated they threw out about 11% of everything they bought.
"It's about $1300 per household annually, on average."
Food cannot be sold after its use by date but can be sold once the best before date has passed.
Consumer NZ spokesperson Belinda Castles agreed there was confusion.
She said how long after a best before date a product could be expected to last would depend on what it was.
"A packet of cereal that is past its best before date is probably going to be fine. Something that is a yoghurt or dairy product would have a shorter time."
Milk is often said to last a week after its date, hard cheeses up to a few months, and many pantry items much longer.
She said meat could be eaten after its best before date because it would be cooked.
Castles said people needed to remember that once something was opened, it was its shelf life that would matter rather than the best before date.
"Say you buy a pottle of sour cream. The best before date might be six weeks out but once you open that the best before date doesn't apply and you'll see on the instructions 'once opened eat within four days'. So you've got to use those both together."
Food that could be expected to last longer than a couple of years, such as a can of tomatoes, might not have a date at all.
It was the manufacturer's responsibility to determine what was an appropriate best before date, she said.
"Something might become stale after its best before date or some of that nutritional quality might reduce if the vitamins or minerals degrade over time but it should be safe from a food safety perspective."
Wolland said manufacturers would tend to use best before dates to encourage people to eat their food at its very best.
"Often they err on the side of caution because they really do want people to enjoy the product at its prime."
She said dried goods like pasta could last years beyond their best before date.
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