If you’re a regular reader of Consumerist, you’re likely aware that there’s a big difference between a “use by” and a “best before” date; the former is a sign that the food may be unsafe to eat after a certain date (though even that’s not always true) while the latter is an indicator that the item might not taste its best after that date, but is still safe to eat. However, many people don’t understand this distinction — and tons of food is wasted every year as a result.

Reuters reports on a new discussion paper, put forth by Sweden and the Netherlands, about food waste in the European Union and calling into question the need for “best before” dates on products with a long shelf life.

According to the researchers, 100 million tons of food is unnecessarily thrown away every year in the EU because of this confusion. This waste has a two-pronged impact — environmentally, it’s more stuff being thrown out that doesn’t need to be; economically, it’s consumers paying for food they don’t eat, or stores throwing away food they don’t sell.

Stateside, former Trader Joe’s president Doug Rauch has been launching a pilot store called The Daily Table, to sell perfectly good food that grocery stores like his former employer would deem no longer sellable because it has passed a certain date.

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