The effect of expiry date communication on acceptability and wasting risk of fresh-cut lettuce was investigated. Fresh-cut lettuce was packed in plastic pouches reporting or not the expiry date on the label and stored at recommended (8 °C) or abuse temperature (12 °C) for increasing time up to 21 days. Lettuce was assessed during storage for colour, total viable count, consumer rejection and wasting risk. Independently on storage temperature, the presence of the expiry date caused an increase of wasting risk. When lettuce was stored at 8 °C, about 4% packages were estimated to be wasted within the expiry date (7 days). Even a lower amount of waste was estimated when expiry date was not reported. Within 7 days of storage at 12 °C, 12% of the packages without expiry date was estimated to be wasted. This percentage increased to 27% when the expiry date was printed on the lettuce label. Results emphasise the dramatic effect of the presence of the expiry date on the consumer decision to waste food.

研究了有效期沟通对鲜切生菜的可接受性和浪费风险的影响。将鲜切生菜包装在塑料袋中，在标签上注明或未注明有效期，并在建议的温度（8°C）或滥用温度（12°C）下存储，最多可延长21天。在储存过程中对生菜进行了颜色，总存活数，消费者拒绝和浪费风险的评估。独立于存储温度，有效期的存在会导致浪费风险的增加。当生菜在8°C下储存时，估计约有4％的包装在有效期内（7天）被浪费了。在没有报告有效期的情况下，估计浪费甚至更少。在12°C下存储7天之内，估计有12％没有到期日期的包装被浪费了。当在生菜标签上打印有效期时，该百分比增加到27％。结果强调了有效期的存在对消费者决定浪费食物的巨大影响。