For years, consumer advocates have criticized the confusing array of dates used on food labels — “best before,” “better if used by,” “expires on,” “sell by,” “use by” and so on. Two of the industry’s top trade associations, FMI and GMA, agree that consumers need consistent labeling. They are therefore supporting an initiative to streamline date labeling to two methods: “Best if Used By” and “Use By”. The groups believe the improved clarity of messaging could reduce the amount of food unnecessarily discarded in landfills by U.S. consumers by hundreds of thousands of tons annually.