Press Release

New Study Reveals How Much Best Before Dates Confusion Costs Canadian Households

Too Good To Go and Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab unveil major new study on household food waste

Toronto, Ontario, November 18, 2025

In Canada, date labels remain a major driver of food waste. According to Second Harvest (2024), 23% of avoidable food waste is caused by Best Before dates from processing to purchase. At home, one-quarter of all food wasted (by weight) stems from confusion over this date — a higher proportion than in the United States (20%, FDA 2024) and Europe (10%, European Commission 2018).

To mark the first anniversary of the ‘Look-Smell-Taste’ initiative in Canada, Too Good To Go — the social impact company behind the world’s largest marketplace for surplus food — builds on this finding. A new large-scale study, commissioned by Too Good To Go and conducted by Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab quantifies the annual cost of food waste related to Best Before dates confusion in Canadian households.

“At Too Good To Go, we want to put the issue of food waste at the centre of public discussion,” says Chris MacAulay, Vice President of Operations for Too Good To Go North America. “Through our app, Canadians have already saved 12 million meals from more than 17,000 businesses, from coast to coast. At the same time, our ‘Look-Smell-Taste’ initiative encourages people to trust their senses for products past their Best Before date and reduce food waste at home. We’re proud to share the results of this research, which highlight the opportunity we all have to act for the planet — and our wallets — by trusting our senses. We invite all food manufacturers and retailers to join us in this effort.”

Best Before dates: a quality indicator

The study aimed to better understand consumer perceptions of date labels and assessed how knowledge, attitudes, and personal values influence food waste behaviours. Key findings include:

• 30% of Canadians don’t know the meaning of the Best Before date label, and 4 in 10 throw out food past its Best Before date even when it’s still edible.
• 73% look, smell, and taste food to assess edibility when the Best Before date has passed. Yet 63% still rely solely on that date to decide whether it’s safe to eat.
• 2 in 3 take food costs into account when deciding whether to consume products past the date.
• On average, Canadian households discard $246 worth of food each year due to Best Before dates confusion.

As the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) clarifies, the Best Before date only indicates how long an unopened product will maintain its optimal quality — such as freshness and flavour — when properly stored, not its safety. Products with a shelf life longer than 90 days are not required to carry a Best Before date.

The ‘Look-Smell-Taste’ initiative: empowering consumers to trust their senses Launched in Canada in 2024, the Too Good To Go ‘Look-Smell-Taste’ initiative aims to help consumers trust their senses when products are past their Best Before date or when there is no date.

From dairy products to snacks, beverages, and condiments, several leading brands in Canada are part of the initiative, including Capel Foods, Terry’s Chocolate, Dr. Oetker, Flirt Drinks, Greenhouse, Healtea, Kopi Thyme, Dums Coffee and Paz Bakery. Their products proudly display the ‘Look-Smell-Taste’ label on their packaging and they have helped educate consumers to trust their senses through awareness campaigns.

Also active in 14 European countries, the initiative now includes over 500 participating brands worldwide, and the ‘Look-Smell-Taste’ label appears on more than 7 billion products yearly.

“Our study shows that, despite improved understanding of date labels, the Best Before date remains the primary factor for consumers in deciding whether food is eaten or discarded — which shouldn’t be the case for products carrying this label” explains Professor Sylvain Charlebois, Director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University. “Levels of food waste vary across generations and are influenced by factors such as risk tolerance and environmental values. Educational initiatives like ‘Look-Smell-Taste’ are essential to help consumers move from knowledge to action and reduce avoidable food waste.”

Too Good To Go is calling on all food industry stakeholders who want to help consumers reduce household food waste to join the ‘Look-Smell-Taste’ initiative by visiting tgtg-label.com

About Too Good To Go

Too Good To Go is a global social impact company that connects users with partners to rescue unsold food and stop it from going to waste. With 120 million registered users and 180,000 active partners across 20 countries, Too Good To Go operates the world's largest marketplace for surplus food.

Since its launch in 2016, Too Good To Go has helped to save over 500 million meals from going to waste, the equivalent to 1.35 million tonnes of CO2e avoided. Food waste is accountable for 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions globally (WWF, 2021). Project Drawdown (2020) ranked reducing food waste as the number one action you can take to help tackle climate change, by limiting the temperature rise to 2˚C by 2100 (Project Drawdown , 2020). For more information, visit https://www.toogoodtogo.com/en-ca/press

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Contact

Nicolas Dot

Public Relations Manager, Too Good To Go Canada

647.406.9153

ndot@toogoodtogo.com