Re:Date labels on food packaging sow consumer confusion and ...
by kazinator on Monday September 02, 2019 @01:08AM
(#20856886)
"Best by" labels have no inherent accuracy. However, you know fairly certainly that for two instances X, Y of exactly the same product, if bestby(X) > bestby(Y), then X is the fresher one.
Furthermore, you know that the less fresh one is at least |bestby(X) - bestby(Y)| days old.
If the difference in "best by" between two instances is three months, one of them is at least three months old already: it's three months plus the age of the newer one.
That's really the only accurate use of these labels: to leave the old stock on the shelf for someone who doesn't care. Once you bring it home they have little value.
Furthermore, you know that the less fresh one is at least |bestby(X) - bestby(Y)| days old.
If the difference in "best by" between two instances is three months, one of them is at least three months old already: it's three months plus the age of the newer one.
That's really the only accurate use of these labels: to leave the old stock on the shelf for someone who doesn't care. Once you bring it home they have little value.