Flash Eurobarometer 425: Food waste and date marking

The Flash Eurobarometer 425 carried out in September 2015 seeks to understand citizens’ perceptions, attitudes and practices related to food waste, and more specifically, to investigate the role of date marking (ie "best before" and "use by" dates) found on food labelling in relation to household food waste. The survey investigates citizens' understanding and use of date marking found on food labelling, and to what extent this information impacts on their consumption habits. While most respondents recognise their own important role in food waste prevention, a large proportion of Europeans lack understanding of date marking, which contributes to the waste of safe, edible food. The findings, which will help inform possible future policy making regarding the provision of food information to consumers, also confirm the need to pursue targeted information and educational initiatives on date marking taking into account the varying understanding and information needs of different consumer groups in the EU Member States.

The results by volumes are distributed as follows:

• Volume A: Countries
• Volume AA: Groups of countries
• Volume A' (AP): Trends
• Volume AA' (AAP): Trends of groups of countries
• Volume B: EU/socio-demographics
• Volume B' (BP) : Trends of EU/ socio-demographics
• Volume C: Country/socio-demographics

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  Researchers may also contact GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences: https://www.gesis.org/eurobarometer