National Date Labelling and Storage Advice Project - Phase 1c Pilot Designs

Food date labels are confusing and storage advice instructions are inconsistent and unclear, leaving consumers baffled, storing food sub-optimally and sometimes throwing out edible food. In a consultation period over 2021-2022, industry, peak body and government stakeholders expressed a need for Australian data about labelling beyond what WRAP and our various CRC projects have provided thus far. This is because much of the existing research has focused on the role date marks and date labelling plays in consumer decisions and practices that lead to food waste in other jurisdictions. The scholarly literature suggests that the date and storage information on a pack has an indirect impact of packaging on a consumer’s decision to eat or discard food (Wilson et al., 2017). However, a consensus is that on-pack date labelling also contributes to consumer food waste (Chu et al., 2020). Altogether, both the academic and industry literature points out the importance of date marks, date labelling and storage advice systems on packaged food to reduce the problem of food waste. Because food waste is a global issue and household food waste resulting from consumer confusion further exacerbates the problem. Nineteen per cent of food produced globally is wasted in retail, food service, and households (United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 2024). Of that amount, households generate an estimated 61% of annual total food waste, making them major contributors to the food waste system (Ukpanah, 2024). Reducing household food waste could save 631 million tonnes of food per year(United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 2024), making some headway to meeting SDG12, for which progress has been stalling (Champions 12.3, 2023). To contextualise that in Australia, each year Australians waste around 7.6 million tonnes of food across the food supply chain. This equals about 312kg per person and can cost up to $2,500 per household per year (Department of Climate Change Energy the Environment and Water, 2023). Solutions to help reduce food waste is underway in countries like the UK and the Netherlands and Australia needs to catch up. This body of work was informed by previous research on the influence of date labels and storage advice on consumers and household food waste. Research indicates that consumers are often confused by the various types of date labels or have diverse interpretations of their meanings (Langley, Parker, et al., 2021; Langley, Phan-Le, et al., 2021). A recent systematic review reveals that consumer uncertainty is likely due to the sparse availability of such information and the absence of global labelling standards (Llagas et al., 2025). The authors found that up to 82% of consumers do not understand "Best before" labels, and 62% are confused by "Use by" labels. The interchangeable use of these terms, combined with interpretation complexity, unstandardised placement, poor legibility, and unclear meanings, adds to the confusion. Additionally, in-depth interviews were conducted with 125 participants to explore how consumers use (or do not use) existing food date labels and storage advice to determine food freshness. The findings from the consumer interviews show that many consumers theoretically understood the difference between ‘Best before’ and ‘Use by’ However, they were often treated the same, with food being disposed of when it reached either date (Parker et al., 2024). Lastly, an investigation was also on the visual cues consumers consider when looking at date labels and storage advice on food packaging. A coding framework was developed to gather data on what consumers look at on food packaging when making decisions about food. Three main themes emerged from the responses centred around placement, legibility, and colour. Three thematic groups were identified from the research insights and they are: 1) Improve/enhance, 2) Visibility, legibility, and standout, and 3) Add-ons. This research explores how design solutions for date labels and storage advice on food packaging can be addressed based on these three thematic groups.