How Does the Public Understand ‘Best Before’ Dates?

Our project is based on survey results from a total of 60 participants to investigate whether the respondents can define a Best Before Date (BBD) and whether they discard items past the date label. The project aimed to provide findings for future targeted educational strategies to reduce food waste. Our results indicated that there is no complete understanding of what a BBD means and that the majority of respondents do not tend to discard food items past the date label. Our findings also indicated that certain food items such as poultry and dairy were among the top foods to be disposed of past the date label, indicating food safety association for more perishable items.