Standardising "Use By" and "Best Before" Date Labels for Food to Reduce Confusion

The Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment (Dr Koh Poh Koon) (for the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment): Sir, both “Use By” and “Best Before” are internationally accepted terms under the Codex General Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods, and commonly used by food manufacturers both locally and overseas. The Codex is the international food standards body established by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and the World Health Organization.

Standardising the use of date-marks to a specific term will require the industry to tailor their packaging to the Singapore market, adding to compliance burden. This may result in additional packaging costs which the industry can pass on to consumers. Given the small size of our Singapore market, overseas food manufacturers may also choose not to change their packaging to meet Singapore’s requirements. This could inadvertently then reduce our food import sources.

Under the current Food Regulations, "Use By" and "Best Before" are both used to indicate the expiry date on food products, beyond which, the food product is not permitted to be sold in Singapore due to possible deterioration in food quality.

I thank the Senior Minister of State for the reply. It is just that we have received feedback that there is sometimes confusion caused by the use of "Use By" and "Best Before" because it is not clear whether it relates to food safety or it is just freshness and "Best Before" in terms of optimal freshness. The question is whether there is anything else that can be done to ensure that we minimise confusion, whether it is in terms of consumer education and to explain the difference whether or not the food is safe to be eaten or whether it is just a matter of a best-case scenario that it should be sold by this date.

So, I just wonder whether the Ministry would consider piloting partnerships with supermarkets to promote two standards – when the supermarkets have control over these foods, for example, house brand meat, vegetables and also packaged foods – whether there can be a campaign to promote a more standardised approach. I think there might be interest from supermarkets and producers to partner on this because they do have control over the packaging. I also noted that, for example, the nutri-grade standards that have been introduced, the food producers do not have issues complying with this. So, can we tag on to that as well to try and get the point across?

Sir, I think if Ms He listens carefully to what I have just said in my main reply, it is an international standard that is used broadly across different parts of the world and we do import from more than 180 regions in the world. And among all these regions, countries like China, Thailand and South Korea do not comply to Codex standards. So, they have maybe a different form of labelling of expiry dates to begin with and we do import from these sources as well.

In my reply, I did emphasise that because of this, as we import 90% or more of our food from different markets, we will have a mix of different labels within our available market system. So, asking our house brands to comply to one standard will not resolve the problem. It means that at the end of the day, the consumer must take both "Use By" and "Best Before" as equivalent to mean that anything after that date, the food is unlikely to be fresh or may not be in its original state that is fit for consumption. Which is why, under current regulations, we do not permit establishments to actually sell any food past either the "Use By" date or the expiry date or the "Best Before" date.

Just a quick clarification for the Senior Minister of State. My understanding is that, right now, there are other kinds of labels that the Health Sciences Authority promotes, say, things like "Healthier Choice" and the like. Would these not likewise impose additional costs that, for me, are not distinct from having an additional sticker that will at least standardise the "Best By" versus expiry?

Sir, the difference is this: if a particular food produce is deemed to be perhaps not as healthy as it should be and they refuse to comply and they, therefore, cannot enter our market, that does not necessarily always restrict our choices. But in a particular label like expiry date that is quite broad and pervasive across many prepackaged food types, to stipulate one particular date-mark label may severely restrict the choices of available food we have for import and, therefore, threaten our food security and food resilience.

On the other hand, by making it a mandatory requirement, manufacturers who are overseas may deem it too onerous for a small market like Singapore to comply and they will then not want to export their food products into Singapore as well. So, it does have implications on our food availability. On the other hand, if they do want to enter the market and add on the extra cost, this cost can be passed on to consumers and inadvertently lead to an increase in food prices.

I thank the Senior Minister of State for the reply. I just have a point to ask whether the Ministry has done any cost analysis to find out, as the Senior Minister of State has talked about the onerous addition of cost burden. Just wondering whether any engagement has been done with all these food manufacturers to ask what the increased cost burden would be. This is because, ultimately, food wastage also adds to our food resilience and has a negative impact on food availability.

Sir, I think it is far easier to tell everyone that as long as it is past the "Use By", expiry or "Best Before" date, the food is unlikely to be fit for consumption and they should think carefully about consuming that food. Because even if the "Use By" date is still valid, if we do not store the food properly, the food can also go bad. Ms He buys a package of milk today that has a "Use By" date of a week from now, but she leaves it in her car under the hot sun for a whole day. Regardless of what the "Use By" date is, the milk may not be fit for consumption by the next day. So, I think also some common sense is needed. But what I am trying to say here is, whatever the label, as long as the date is past, consumers should treat it as not fit for consumption and think carefully about consuming it.