Abstract We confront the expiration date whenever we shop, eat or discard food. This label has changed our foodways in profound and unforeseen manners, on the one hand increasing food safety while on the other reducing our sensory ability to judge food, thus leading to an increase in food waste. Only by understanding how the quality and expiration date of a product are interrelated and co-constructed by different actors, technologies and practices throughout the food chain, might we gain a better understanding of the phenomenon and be able to find solutions to a growing food waste problem. Based on ethnographic research at different locations, I will open the black box of the date label to unravel its internal complexities. I will show how human and non-human actors are entangled and connected via the expiration date—on the one hand co-constructing the double black box that hides the properties of the product milk and on the other being strongly influenced by their own construction.

中文翻译：

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黑拳牛奶：整个挪威牛奶链中的日期标签、质量和浪费

摘要 每当我们购物、食用或丢弃食物时，我们都会面临保质期。这个标签以深刻和不可预见的方式改变了我们的饮食方式，一方面提高了食品安全性，另一方面降低了我们判断食物的感官能力，从而导致食物浪费的增加。只有了解产品的质量和保质期如何在整个食物链中由不同的参与者、技术和做法相互关联和共同构建，我们才能更好地了解这一现象并能够找到解决日益增长的食物浪费的方法问题。根据不同地点的人种学研究，我将打开日期标签的黑匣子以解开其内部复杂性。