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Impact of consumers’ understanding of date labelling on food waste behaviour

Author

Listed:
  • Luiza Toma

    (SRUC)

  • Montserrat Costa Font

    (SRUC)

  • Bethan Thompson

    (University of Edinburgh)

Abstract

This research analyses the impact that the level of understanding of date marking (among other influences) has on the food waste behaviour of consumers in the European Union focusing on a comparison between European Union countries. The data were extracted from the Dataset Flash Eurobarometer 425: Food waste and date marking (European Commission in Flash eurobarometer 425: food waste and date marking, European Commission, Brussels, 2015) and structural equation models to estimate the strength of these influences on behaviour. The results show that socio-demographics (age; education; occupation); behavioural control (perceptions regarding the need for better and clearer information about ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ date labelling on food products; frequency of checking date labels when shopping and preparing meals); and understanding of ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ labels have significant effects on behaviours related to lower food waste (use of senses instead of labels to decide whether to eat or throw away food e.g., non-perishable foods from own kitchen cupboard with no ‘best before’ date indicated on the label which were not bought recently; or food products which must be used within a certain number of days after opening and are past that; and the need for ‘best before’ dates on non-perishable foods, such as rice, pasta, coffee or tea). The stated understanding of date labelling is a key influence in all models and explains a consistent fifth (ceteris paribus) of the variance in behaviour.

Suggested Citation

  • Luiza Toma & Montserrat Costa Font & Bethan Thompson, 2020. "Impact of consumers’ understanding of date labelling on food waste behaviour," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 543-560, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:operea:v:20:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s12351-017-0352-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s12351-017-0352-3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Buzby, Jean C. & Farah-Wells, Hodan & Hyman, Jeffrey, 2014. "The Estimated Amount, Value, and Calories of Postharvest Food Losses at the Retail and Consumer Levels in the United States," Economic Information Bulletin 164262, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
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    3. Mena, Carlos & Terry, Leon A. & Williams, Adrian & Ellram, Lisa, 2014. "Causes of waste across multi-tier supply networks: Cases in the UK food sector," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 144-158.
    4. Peschel, Anne & Grebitus, Carola & Steiner, Bodo & Veeman, Michele, 2016. "How does consumer knowledge affect environmentally sustainable choices? Evidence from a cross-country latent class analysis of food labels," MPRA Paper 69864, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ovidija Eičaitė & Gitana Alenčikienė & Ingrida Pauliukaitytė & Alvija Šalaševičienė, 2021. "Eat or Throw Away? Factors Differentiating High Food Wasters from Low Food Wasters," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-16, September.
    2. Carter Weis & Anjali Narang & Bradley Rickard & Diogo M. Souza-Monteiro, 2021. "Effects of Date Labels and Freshness Indicators on Food Waste Patterns in the United States and the United Kingdom," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-15, July.
    3. Ghinea Valentina Mihaela & Cantaragiu Ramona Elena & Ghinea Mihalache, 2020. "FEED - Modeling the relationship between education and food waste," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 14(1), pages 755-768, July.
    4. Rosalinda Nicastro & Petronia Carillo, 2021. "Food Loss and Waste Prevention Strategies from Farm to Fork," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-23, May.

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