Walmart updates date labels on its Great Value brand

On its Walmart Today blog, Frank Yiannas, vice president, food safety for Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart Inc. said the retailer will be updating its date labels on all nonperishable Great Value food products to help reduce food waste. In the United States, consumers throw away about $29 billion worth of edible food each year in their homes.

One major reason why consumers throw away edible food is confusion caused by food labels, Yiannas said. Consumers often mistake date labels as food safety indicators; however, most of the labels refer to peak quality not safety. To help alleviate this confusion, Walmart started requiring that its suppliers of nonperishable food products, under the Great Value brand, use a standardized date label that reads: "Best if used by." The switch will go into effect this month.

To read more about Walmart's date label switch, visit http://blog.walmart.com/sustainability/20160713/new-initiatives-taking-a-bite-out-of-food-waste.