Can Food Waste Policies Promote Sustainability?: Relationships of Food Date Label Policies with Food Waste and Safety Outcomes

Balca Alaybek (), Grace Mika, John A. Aitken, Rob Hartman, Julia Painter, Emily M. Broad Leib, Regan Plekenpol, Joseph S. Beckmann, Laura Leets and Amber Sprenger
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Balca Alaybek: The MITRE Corporation, 7515 Colshire Drive, McLean, VA 22102, USA
Grace Mika: The MITRE Corporation, 7515 Colshire Drive, McLean, VA 22102, USA
John A. Aitken: The MITRE Corporation, 7515 Colshire Drive, McLean, VA 22102, USA
Rob Hartman: The MITRE Corporation, 7515 Colshire Drive, McLean, VA 22102, USA
Julia Painter: The MITRE Corporation, 7515 Colshire Drive, McLean, VA 22102, USA
Emily M. Broad Leib: Food Law and Policy Clinic, The Harvard Law School, 1585 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Regan Plekenpol: Food Law and Policy Clinic, The Harvard Law School, 1585 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Joseph S. Beckmann: Food Law and Policy Clinic, The Harvard Law School, 1585 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Laura Leets: The MITRE Corporation, 7515 Colshire Drive, McLean, VA 22102, USA
Amber Sprenger: The MITRE Corporation, 7515 Colshire Drive, McLean, VA 22102, USA

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 6, 1-17

Abstract: Food waste is a major contributor to climate change and a barrier to environmental sustainability. As such, reducing food waste is estimated to be one of the most promising strategies to reverse global warming. One way to address food waste is to implement effective policies, which requires an understanding of the impact of current policies on food waste and other relevant outcomes. The current study examined the impact of United States (U.S.) states’ date label policies on food waste and foodborne illness. We found that states with more date label restrictions had greater waste, but this effect was not significant. In addition, date label restrictions and foodborne illness were not related. This shows that current date label policies do not help to reduce food waste or improve public health. In other words, current U.S. state food waste policies do not promote sustainability. We discuss the implications for date label policy content and offer future research directions.

Keywords: food date label; policy; food waste; foodborne illness; public safety (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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