Significant hunger and environmental issues in the world have led different stakeholders and policymakers to address these issues in several ways. Minimizing food waste is one such way that has the potential to address hunger and environmental degradation. One of the causes of food waste at the consumer level, that can be prevented, is the confusion of food-date labels with food safety. This paper reviews the most recent (from 2020 to 2022) publications on how people confuse date labels with food safety and how much food is wasted due to such confusion. To address the confusion, an integrated approach utilizing needs assessments, collecting scientific evidence, and using potential interventions such as community outreach education, smart date-label systems, and regulations, is suggested. All rights reserved, Elsevier.
