--- description: The USDA has asked meat and dairy companies to label their products with a "best if used by" date rather than confusing alternatives title: U.S. to Food Companies: Your Expiration Date Labels Are Too Confusing image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1ecf7d625341730/6988b30cf887dc1efae9881f/egg-use-by-date.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # U.S. to Food Companies: Your Expiration Date Labels Are Too Confusing  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Dec 15, 2016 1:03 PM CUT  single egg in bowl with expiration date single egg in bowl with expiration dateGetty Images  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Dec 15, 2016 1:03 PM CUT The U.S. Department of Agriculture has [asked](https://consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/bestifusedby.pdf "undefined") meat and dairy companies to label their products with a “best if used by” date rather than a slew of alternatives that the agency says are confusing. The USDA says the recommendation, which comes in the form of a Food Safety and Inspection Service guidance issued Wednesday, is an attempt to cut down on [food waste](http://time.com/4037087/food-waste-united-states/ "undefined"). Nearly a third of the U.S. food supply is [wasted](http://time.com/4252941/united-states-food-waste-cuts/ "undefined") by retailers or customers annually, often because consumers do not understand the labels, according to the agency. “Research shows that this phrase conveys to consumers that the product will be of best quality if used by the calendar date shown,” the guidance reads. The guidance is just a recommendation and food providers do not need to follow it. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4603221/usda-food-expiration-date-labels/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4603221/usda-food-expiration-date-labels/"},"headline":"U.S. to Food Companies: Your Expiration Date Labels Are Too Confusing","datePublished":"2016-12-15T13:03:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:19:03.469Z","description":"A call to stick with \"best if used by\"","url":"https://time.com/4603221/usda-food-expiration-date-labels/","keywords":["Food","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1ecf7d625341730/6988b30cf887dc1efae9881f/egg-use-by-date.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1ecf7d625341730/6988b30cf887dc1efae9881f/egg-use-by-date.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"egg with expiration date","caption":"egg with expiration date","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4603221/usda-food-expiration-date-labels/","name":"U.S. to Food Companies: Your Expiration Date Labels Are Too Confusing"}}]}] ```