This is Scientific Americans 60 Second Science. I'm Jared Rizzie.

Best Before, Sell By, for Best Results Use By, You probably have many of these labels on items in your fridge and pantry right now.

A lot of behavior on what you throw away and how you consume food.

A lot of people go off what's on the label.

And so what we're looking at is trying to shift behavior,

trying to make consistency in terms of how foods are labeled so that we can avoid waste and

avoid people throwing away products that are perfectly good to eat.

Pete Pearson is the senior director for food Loss and Waste at World Wildlife Fund.

70% or more of the biodiversity loss on the planet is attributed to food and agriculture.

The Natural Resources Defense Council

estimates that 40% of all food in the United States goes uneaten. That

translates to some 218 billion billion in wasted money annually.

Beyond the hit to the wallet, food waste in landfills creates methane,

which is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

And these figures don't include a full accounting of the accumulated waste

producing and transporting food that we don't eat.

Water and fertilizer, maintenance of animal habitats, and fuel.

And often because of labeling and consumer behavior, we throw it away and it's still perfectly

good to eat.

Another part of the solution could come from the bipartisan Food Date Labeling Act,

which would expand federal standards on expiration dates from just baby formula now to most everything else.

The bill is making its way through Congress and could streamline what you see when you're shopping.

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