Pocantico, NY - Maine U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree announced today that she will be introducing comprehensive legislation this fall to attack a problem she describes as "wasted food."
Pingree says the bill will target restaurants, institutions, consumers and agricultural producers in an effort to reform the way "sell by" or "best by" dates are used in labeling the recommended shelf life of products.
"Statistics are just staggering: 40 percent of all food in the United States is just wasted - and that's about 20 pounds of food per person," Pingree says. "And if you have 50 million people in America who are going hungry, if you would reduce the amount of food we waste by about 15 percent, we could feed half the hungry people."
Pingree said many people mistakenly think there is some sort of government standard for "best by" dates and that food must be discarded once the date has passed. She said, instead, it’s food manufacturer who recommend those dates knowing the food is safe to eat long after the label expiration date.
Pingree announced the bill at the New York Times' Food for Tomorrow conference in Pocantico, NY.