expiration date

Article – Expiration date of perishable foods: evaluation of compliance with current legal regulations in large Venezuelan supermarkets

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Introduction: The expiration date indicates the useful life of the food, offering from its packaging not only a health alert, but also a sensory and nutritional quality of the product. As in Venezuela it is mandatory legal compliance for manufacturers and
retailers to make this information visible on the packages. Objective: Evaluate their current level of compliance.

Materialand method: Seven establishments from five large supermarket chains were visited, where the proper use or not of theexpiration declaration on highly perishable products such as meat, dairy products and eggs was evaluated. Results: 6066packages or containers were verified, corresponding to 2022 food products of different commercial brands where 40.10%(n=811) managed to adhere to faithful compliance with health regulations, but not 59.89% (n=1211) complementary. The lowest compliance was 4.88% (n=26) in meat products packaged in the same supermarket, as well as 22.06% (n=62) in dairy
products also handled and repackaged in the establishment.

Conclusion: A large public health problem is detected in non- compliance with the declaration of expiration of food, which requires orchestrated work between authorities, manufacturers, distributors and consumers to reduce all possible associated risks.

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Brazil – MAPA Ordinance eliminates expiration date for fresh packaged products

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The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA in Portuguese) published Ordinance No. 458, which dispenses with the obligation to indicate the expiration date on packaged fresh vegetables. The new ordinance modifies Normative Instruction No. 69/2018 and complies with Resolution RDC No. 259/2002 of the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), which already provided for the waiver of this information.

The secretary of Agricultural Defense of the Map, José Guilherme Leal, explains that the measure is important in the fight against food waste, because tons of fruit are lost annually in Brazil due to the expiration date, however, without being suitable for the consumption. “The expiration date that appeared on the packaging was not related to the quality of the product, since the consumer himself is able to see if a vegetable product is suitable for consumption only by visual appearance,” said Leal. When buying fresh vegetables, the consumer can identify if they are rotten, withered or smelly, that is, if they are not good for consumption.

For further information, you can access the original source in Portuguese