The new chairman of the conference of consumer protection ministers wants to delete the best-before date (MHD).

"The best before date must be abolished in its current form, because it is still a reason why too much food is thrown away," said CDU politician Peter Hauk, Minister for Food, Rural Areas and Consumer Protection in Baden-Württemberg.

At the turn of the year, Hauk took over the chair of the conference of state consumer protection ministers.

His ministry announced a corresponding application, but a solution had to be found at federal and EU level.

Julia Loehr

Business correspondent in Berlin.

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Gustave parts

Business correspondent in Stuttgart.

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Since 1981, food manufacturers have had to print a best before date on packaged food.

Recently, there has been increased criticism of this practice.

According to figures from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, around 11 million tons of food end up in the garbage every year in Germany.

59 percent of this waste came from private households – statistically, that makes around 78 kilograms per person.

With campaigns such as "Too good for the bin", politicians are promoting the fact that people rely more on their own senses than on the printed date and also eat "expired" food.

But at least in Baden-Württemberg, the time seems ripe for further measures.

Pressure on Ozdemir

Hauk himself does not yet know exactly what the alternative to the best-before date should look like.

One possibility is to replace the best-before date with the production date, he told SWR, which reported first.

Hauk now spoke to the FAZ of a “more suitable designation”, for example a “quality guaranteed up to”.

The term best-before date evokes the association that food is inedible after it has expired.

That is why the term was “unfavorably chosen”, according to Hauk.

With his initiative, the state minister is trying to put pressure on Federal Food Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens), who also comes from Baden-Württemberg and is being considered a candidate to succeed Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens).

The federal government should "fulfill its obligation and check the best-before date with a view to avoiding food waste," said Hauk in the direction of Özdemir.

The latter had recently commented on another aspect.

According to Özdemir, so-called containers, taking food out of supermarket garbage cans, should no longer be punished.

Hauk refuses.

"We don't have to worry about food that's in the bin, our goal has to be that it doesn't end up there in the first place."

EU-wide rules

A spokeswoman for Özdemir was open to changes in terms of the best-before date.

"The BMEL is committed to amending the regulations on the best-before date in order to reduce food waste".

However, the regulations are uniform throughout the EU.

There are only exceptions for certain foods.

"Only the EU Commission can make changes to this exception list." This has already announced a revision of the list in question, taking into account new findings from consumer research.

"The BMEL supports the EU Commission in its project."

In fact, a proposal from Brussels became known in autumn 2021, according to which the labeling obligation with a best-before date could be omitted for long-lasting products such as pasta, rice, oil or coffee.

Perishable foods would then continue to have a use-by date.

However, there was also discussion about just changing the wording, pointing out more clearly on the packaging that products are often still edible after the date has expired.

The discounter Aldi Süd, for example, has been printing the note “Smell me!

Try me!

I'm often good for longer!” to raise consumer awareness.

The food trade association could also imagine a partial abolition of the controversial date.

"It could make sense for long-lasting foods such as pasta or canned products," says general manager Franz-Martin Rausch.

However, he adds: "Deleting the BBD without replacement and instead printing the production date on the packaging does not solve the problem." A layman cannot draw conclusions about the quality of the product from this.

The best-before date also plays an important role in recalls.