Date label confusion is one of the leading causes of consumer food waste, estimated to drive nearly 85% of Americans to prematurely toss food that is still safe to eat. Lack of consistency in labels contributes to additional waste among grocery stores and other consumer-facing businesses and unnecessarily restricts the safe donation of nutritious foods past their date labels to food rescue organizations. Recent voluntary initiatives in the US have coalesced around the standard labels “BEST if Used By” for food’s peak quality and “USE By” for food safety. This standardization only works, however, if there is full adoption across the industry and education of consumers on how to interpret these labels. Without standardization at the federal level, current laws in more than half of our states restrict the ability for businesses to use these two standard labels and limit capacity for streamlined public education.

Under current law, the federal enhanced tax deduction for food donations can only be claimed when food is donated to a non-profit that does not charge the end recipient for the food. Expanding the federal tax deduction can incentivize donations to more recipients, including social supermarkets that sell donated food at an extremely discounted price or food rescue organizations that charge recipients a minimal fee to help offset the costs of home delivery. Adding transport services for donated food as a separate cost eligible for an enhanced tax deduction will also help overcome one of the most expensive barriers for businesses and food rescue organizations to get excess food to those in need.