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Each food product in the United States must show a "best before" date on its container.
在美国，每种食品的包装上都必须标明“最佳食用日期”。
The goal of placing the date on food is to tell the buyer when the food will be at its freshest.
在食品包装上标注最佳食用日期的目的是告诉购买者食物什么时候是最新鲜的。
Some people call the date the “expiration date.”
有些人把这一日期称为“保质期”。
Many people believe it is unsafe to use the product after that date.
许多人认为，过了该日期再使用该产品是不安全的。
But some observers say "best before" labels have nothing to do with safety.
但一些观察人士表示，“最佳食用日期”标签与安全无关。
They worry that the information will lead consumers to throw away food that is good to eat.
他们担心这些信息会导致消费者扔掉那些还能吃的食物。
People around the world are thinking about ways to prevent wasting food.
世界各地的人们都在想防止浪费食物的方法。
They think that “best before” labels are one cause of waste.
他们认为“最佳食用日期”标签是造成浪费的原因之一。
Patty Apple is a manager at Food Shift in Alameda, California.
帕蒂·阿普尔是加利福尼亚州阿拉米达市Food Shift的经理。
It is a nonprofit group that collects and uses expired or bad looking foods.
这是一个非营利性组织，其收集和使用过期或看起来不太好的食品。
"They read these dates and then they believe that it's bad, they can't eat it… when these dates don't actually mean that they're not edible or they're not still nutritious or tasty," she said.
她说：“他们看到这些日期，就会认为食物不好，不能吃……而这些日期实际上并不表示它们不能食用或它们不再有营养或不美味。”
Some food sellers in Britain recently removed "best before" labels from prepackaged fruit and vegetables.
英国的一些食品销售商最近从预先包装好的水果和蔬菜上去掉了“最佳食用日期”标签。
The European Union may soon announce changes to its labeling laws.
欧盟可能很快就会宣布修改其标签法。
It may even end the requirement to include a date.
它甚至可能会取消要求添加日期的规定。
In the U.S., there is no similar effort to do away with "best before" labels.
美国没有采取类似的举措来去掉“最佳食用日期”标签。
But there is a movement to make changes to labels that will help educate buyers about when food can be eaten.
但有一场要求修改标签规定的运动，这将有助于教育购买者了解食品的食用期限。
Some big food store owners and food companies are pushing for the U.S. Congress to pass new laws on the subject.
一些大型食品店老板和食品公司正在推动美国国会就这一问题通过新的法律。
Dana Gunders is executive director of ReFED.
达纳·冈德斯是ReFED的执行董事。
It is a nonprofit group in New York state that studies food waste.
这是纽约州的一个非营利性组织，其研究食物垃圾。
Gunders said the level of support for the new laws is growing.
冈德斯说，支持新法律的人越来越多。
ReFED says as much as 35 percent of available food goes uneaten in the United States.
ReFED表示，在美国，多达35%的可食用食物没有被食用。
That adds up to a lot of wasted energy.
这就浪费了大量能源。
The waste includes the water, land and labor that goes into the food production.
浪费的能源包括用于食品生产的水、土地和劳动力。
The group says it also means more greenhouse gases coming from landfills, where people bury waste.
该组织表示，这也意味着垃圾填埋场会产生更多的温室气体，垃圾填埋场是人们掩埋垃圾的地方。
But ReFED estimates that seven percent of U.S. food waste comes from people’s misunderstanding of “best before” labels.
但ReFED估计，美国7%的食物垃圾来自人们对“最佳食用日期”标签的误解。
That percentage is equal to about 3.6 million tons each year.
这一比例相当于每年约360万吨。
Date labels first appeared in the 1970s but there are no federal rules controlling them.
日期标签最早出现在20世纪70年代，但没有联邦法规对其进行控制。
The food producers themselves decide when they believe their products will taste best.
食品生产者自己决定自己的产品什么时候味道最好。
Only baby formula must have a "use by" date in the United States.
在美国，只有婴儿配方奶粉必须标明“最佳食用日期”。
Since 2019, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended that producers use the label "best if used by" for freshness.
自2019年以来，美国食品药品监督管理局建议生产商使用“最佳使用日期”标签来表示新鲜度。
The FDA recommends "use by" for perishable goods, based on opinion studies showing that consumers understand those expressions.
美国食品药品监督管理局建议在易腐商品上贴上“最佳使用日期”标签，因为民意调查显示消费者理解这些表达。
Richard Lipsit owns a store called Grocery Outlet in Pleasanton, California, that specializes in low-priced food.
理查德·利普西特在加利福尼亚州普莱森顿拥有一家名为Grocery Outlet的商店，专门卖低价食品。
He said milk can be safely used up to a week after its "use by" date.
他说，牛奶可以在“最佳食用日期”后的一周内安全饮用。
And you can safely eat canned goods and many other packaged foods for years after their "best before" date.
罐头食品和许多其他包装食品在“最佳食用日期”之后的几年内都可以安全食用。
The FDA says people should look for changes in color, thickness, or feel to learn if foods are all right to eat.
美国食品药品监督管理局表示，人们应该通过观察颜色、厚度或触感的变化来了解食物是否可以食用。
"Our bodies are very well equipped to recognize the signs of decay, when food is past its edible point," Gunders said.
冈德斯说：“当食物超过可食用限度时，我们的身体有能力识别腐烂的迹象。”
"We've lost trust in those senses and we've replaced it with trust in these dates."
“我们已经失去了对这些感官的信任，取而代之的是对这些日期的信任。”
Clearer labeling and donation rules could help groups like Food Shift.
更明确的标签和捐赠规则可以帮助像Food Shift这样的组织。
The group trains cooks using outdated food.
该组织使用过期的食物培训厨师。
If new laws are approved in Congress, food could be donated to food rescue organizations even after its quality date has passed.
如果国会通过了新法律，即使食品已经过了保质期，也可以被捐赠给食品救援组织。
Food rescue describes efforts to find uses for outdated food.
食品救援指的是为过期食品寻找用途的活动。
Currently, the Associated Press says at least 20 states ban the sale or donation of food after its quality date has passed.
据美联社报道，目前至少有20个州禁止出售或捐赠超过保质期的食品。
I’m Jill Robbins.
吉尔·罗宾斯为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
