FLPC Director Quoted in Article in ArkansasOnline on Food Date Labeling

On August 7, 2016, ArkansasOnline published a story on Wal-Mart’s new efforts to reduce food waste, entitled “Wal-Mart updates ‘best by’ labeling.”

The article, written by Robbie Neiswanger, lauds the corporation’s decision to simplify food date labels down from the 47 variations seen on their shelves to just “Best if used by.” The article also includes thoughts on Wal-Mart’s change from JoAnne Berkenkamp at the Natural Resources Defense Council and Jordan Figueiredo of the “Ugly Fruit and Veg” campaign, in addition to Emily Broad Leib, Director of the Food Law and Policy Clinic.

Excerpt from article:

“Wal-Mart has been working on ways to tackle both issues, announcing campaigns to sell imperfect apples in some Florida stores and ugly potatoes in stores in southwest Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma. The retailer also has standardized the language on date labels, which is now a requirement for its Great Value items…

So will Wal-Mart’s continued work to help lead the discussion in advocating industry-wide standards, according to Emily Broad Leib, director of the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic.

‘Before Wal-Mart moved on this, it was really easy for companies to say, ‘It’s too hard to standardize labels,’ Broad Leib said.

‘I think they have so much power to make change. More so than any other company,’ Broad Leib added.”

Read “Wal-Mart updates ‘best by’ labeling” in full.