Consumers Embrace Milk Carton QR Codes, May Cut Food Waste (phys.org) 206
The "use-by" and "best-by" dates printed on milk cartons and gallon jugs may soon become a thing of the past, giving way to more accurate and informative QR codes. Phys.Org reports: A new Cornell University study finds that consumers will use the QR codes to better depict how long the milk is drinkable and create substantially less agricultural and food waste. In the U.S., dairy products are among the top three food groups with the largest share of wasted food, said Samantha Lau, a doctoral student in food science who works in the lab of Martin Wiedmann, the professor of food safety in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
In the early spring semester, Lau, also working with Cornell's Milk Quality Improvement Program, connected with the Cornell Dairy Bar, which sells fluid milk in addition to ice cream on campus. She wanted to assess consumer acceptance for QR code technology that may one day replace the static best-by or sell-by dates commonly found on food products. Customers had a choice: purchasing milk with printed best-by dates, or buying containers with QR codes, which when scanned by a smart phone, would display the best-by date.
In the same Cornell Dairy Bar study, Lau placed a dynamic pricing element where consumers were encouraged to purchase milk with a shorter remaining shelf life -- by offering a price discount as the best-by date approached. "During two-month study, over 60% of customers purchased the milk with the QR code, showing a considerable interest in using this new technology," Lau said. "This revealed that the use of QR codes on food products can be an innovative way to address the larger issue of food waste." Wiedmann says the technology also exists where smart milk cartons could communicate with smart refrigerators to inform a household of the need for fresh milk.
The study has been published in the Journal of Dairy Science.
In the early spring semester, Lau, also working with Cornell's Milk Quality Improvement Program, connected with the Cornell Dairy Bar, which sells fluid milk in addition to ice cream on campus. She wanted to assess consumer acceptance for QR code technology that may one day replace the static best-by or sell-by dates commonly found on food products. Customers had a choice: purchasing milk with printed best-by dates, or buying containers with QR codes, which when scanned by a smart phone, would display the best-by date.
In the same Cornell Dairy Bar study, Lau placed a dynamic pricing element where consumers were encouraged to purchase milk with a shorter remaining shelf life -- by offering a price discount as the best-by date approached. "During two-month study, over 60% of customers purchased the milk with the QR code, showing a considerable interest in using this new technology," Lau said. "This revealed that the use of QR codes on food products can be an innovative way to address the larger issue of food waste." Wiedmann says the technology also exists where smart milk cartons could communicate with smart refrigerators to inform a household of the need for fresh milk.
The study has been published in the Journal of Dairy Science.
Not exactly (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Not exactly (Score:5, Funny)
If only there was a way to print two things on a packet at once, eg. a QR code and a date.
The person who invents that technology is going to make a fortune!
Maybe somebody like Elon Musk could invent it for humanity.
Re: (Score:2)
It seems the entire point of this is they did not like the "static" nature of the date. So by using a url link, they can change or modify the best by date at any time, something that would be damaged by also including a static date that would then conflict with the changed information.
Re: (Score:2)
The article says that the QR code would also display a cheaper price depending on how far away the sell-by date was. People likely just wanted to see the discount. Not sure why that wasn't quoted by the poster since it's probably the only important piece of info on why the code was "embraced".
Re: (Score:3)
It seems the entire point of this is they did not like the "static" nature of the date.
Call me cynical, but I suspect the entire point of this will quickly become locking you into their special 'Milk Pro Plus' app that can then track you and send shovel-full loads of personal data their way.
Re: (Score:2)
TFA seems to include that milk near the sell by date would be cheaper, so yes, I can see people standing there scanning through every F*ing bottle. Multiple people. There could be a queue to get milk, and then the run on milk would begin!
Re:It's easy to make fun of shit like this (Score:4, Insightful)
Product expiration dates, especially shorter ones on refrigerated products are also highly used by store clerks. They do purposefully rotate stock and pull stock every single day they attend to their shelves - there is no way clerks are going to have to start scanning every single item to make sure they don't have expired goods on their selves.
Re: (Score:3)
I certainly arrange milk in my own fridge that way. I get it all delivered lately, multiple gallons at a time, and the use-by dates can vary by quite a bit. So the nearest date goes in the front. Having to check a QR code to figure out would be really stupid and annoying. Especially with the refrigerated and frozen stuff which I try to put away first, and as quickly as possible.
Re: (Score:2)
By the time this rolls out your 85 year old mother won't be able to get up under the weight of the tombstone above her. Not being offensive here, just realistic. This is at the science journal stage. It's very likely she will not live long enough to see this adopted anywhere.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Tell it to the lawyers (Score:3)
Re:Tell it to the lawyers (Score:4, Insightful)
This is just really bizarre. Does the QR code just show people a video detailing the process of "just open it and smell it"?
At first I was all, "How can scanning a code possibly easier than just looking a date??", but then I realized most people probably don't even know what day it is and saying "the day after tomorrow" probably is better.
I've always thought milk expiry dates were far too conservative, mainly to protect producers from liability. I don't think this is going to solve any of that.
No, they're "too conservative" to maximize the waste - make sure supermarkets throw them away while they're still good and order some more. Just in case.
That's capitalism.
And I fail to see how QR codes will fix that.
Re:Tell it to the lawyers (Score:4, Informative)
No, they're "too conservative" to maximize the waste - make sure supermarkets throw them away while they're still good and order some more. Just in case.
Not necessarily. In a competitive environment, offering longer expiration dates makes the producer more attractive to supermarkets precisely because they will not have to pay for milk that goes to waste. What you wrote would work much better in a monopoly supplier situation.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
No, it's dairy-product companies putting ridiculously short sell-by dates on their products.
Re: (Score:3)
Cheese doesn't go bad it just turns into different kinds of cheese.
Re: (Score:2)
Milk does go bad faster than most food items, but it is usually just fine tasting after the "best by" date, as long as it is kept cold enough. Bread, on the other hand, I have had get moldy immediately after bringing home from the store, even without exceeding the "best by" date.
Re: (Score:2)
Milk goes off before it smells bad. There are plenty of times you can smell milk just fine only to pour it into your coffee completely ruining it because it is sour.
But honestly this sounds like a solution looking for a problem. Use by dates are a fantasy anyway. Left the milk in the sun a bit too long? It'll go off sooner. Left it in the fridge unopened? It'll last longer.
Re: Tell it to the lawyers (Score:2)
Bingo, I can tell because my cup of coffee at work when only about 2hrs old will leave a ring of milk when I go to refill it.
This happens a few days before it smells bad or tastes different.
Re: (Score:2)
I have the opposite experience. Milk starts to smell bad to me before it "goes off" enough to ruin what I'm putting it in. Anyway, to me, pouring milk in good coffee completely ruins it whether or not the milk has gone bad.
Storage matters a lot (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
How long milk and other dairy lasts is directly related not only to when and how it is processed but also how it is kept.
Yeah, I'd say the biggest contributor to food waste are domestic refrigerators with crappy mechanical thermostats. The reason food generally lasts so much longer at the grocery store is because commercial refrigeration equipment is engineered to maintain a constant temperature at all times. That and also still being factory sealed, obviously.
Needless extra step (Score:5, Insightful)
Instead of just looking at the date, scan a code to be able to look up the date and let us track who drinks our milk.
Re:Needless extra step (Score:5, Insightful)
>"Instead of just looking at the date, scan a code to be able to look up the date and let us track who drinks our milk."
Bingo.
There is ZERO value in REPLACING the date code with a damn QR code. If they want to ADD a QR code just to provide reference information about milk, that is fine. But replacing a date is an incredibly stupid move which is incredibly anti-consumer-friendly.
Why not just call it "e-Milk" and get the useless buzzwords maximized?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Of course I want to scan a trillion items with my smartphone when I purchase groceries for the family. There's nothing else to do with my copious amounts of freetime than to slowly waddle through the dairy aisle and painstakingly scan and check each and every item, cursing twice because I locked the phone out of habit again and the in-store wifi being too slow and 4/5G being shielded by the metal siding of the building as usual.
Really, no problem whatsover with linking my identity, location, device type and
Re: (Score:2)
They point out in the article that the QR code allows the benefit of not being reliant on a "static" date. They want the ability to change the date.
This makes no sense... (Score:4, Insightful)
I mean I didn't RFA, but wouldn't a printed date have the same information and use less ink than a QR code? Couldn't you offer the same discount for milk with printed dates that are closer to their best by date? I don't see how adding a smartphone in the mix adds anything to this, rather it just complicates things.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
"Couldn't you offer the same discount for milk with printed dates that are closer to their best by date?"
Yes, they already do, and with other things like meat as well.
Like you, I'm missing the point, even more so since my flip phone doesn't do QR codes, and it rarely leaves home. What would I need a phone for on my weekly hour long run to the grocery store?
Re: (Score:2)
I mean I didn't RFA, but wouldn't a printed date have the same information and use less ink than a QR code? Couldn't you offer the same discount for milk with printed dates that are closer to their best by date? I don't see how adding a smartphone in the mix adds anything to this, rather it just complicates things.
Question: Today is the 2nd of June. If something expired on the 28th of May then how many days is it since then?
If Mr. Smartypants can't do it the math then what chance do all the dumbasses have?
Re: (Score:3)
The QR code would not be a date, but a link to a website. They mention that they dont like the "static" nature of a date, what they will use this for is the ability to modify the best before date at will.
Re: (Score:2)
What they "discovered" here, hopefully not with a generous grant from taxpayers, was something my local Kroger already knew - that if you slap a discount sticker on something that's about to hit the end of its shelf-life, people will buy it.
What they did not in any way do was show that people prefer to point their phone at a carton of milk instead of just looking at it directly. At best, they've shown that giving kids something new to use their phone for will
Re: (Score:2)
And it's not like we don't have text that is human readable and machine readable, if there's some part of this process that is automated. We've had that tech for decades.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
They want to replace a readable label with a QR code. How is that better? Now I need a phone
Re:This makes no sense... (Score:5, Funny)
Re: This makes no sense... (Score:2)
Never underestimate the usefulness of a good telephone sanitizer.
Re: (Score:3)
The only thing from the summary that made any logical sense was that this would reduce waste. Presumably people no longer throw out milk past it's best before. They've no idea what date that is, so they smell it and realise that it's still perfectly fine.
Re: (Score:3)
Why remove the human-readable date? (Score:3)
If you have to individualize the Qcode, the cost to continue to include a human-readable date is trivial so why not both? But if you do remove the human-readable date, at least have a scanner right by the fridge so I don't have to use my own phone and data.
I do like the idea of automatic price reductions for milk nearer expiration, we go through four cartons a week here, so milk with four days to go would usually be fine.
From 'Sell by' to 'Best by' (Score:2)
Re:Why remove the human-readable date? (Score:5, Funny)
You left out the best one for shelf life. Just buy dogs' milk.
Nothing wrong with dog's milk. Full of goodness, full of vitamins, full of marrowbone jelly. Lasts longer than any other milk, dog's milk.
Re: Why remove the human-readable date? (Score:3)
Until grandma gets sick enough and dies in the hospital. They might want to rethink that strategy.
Seriously, I'm all for eliminating food waste, but this is not the way to do it.
You can do that by buying powdered milk instead. Expiration date is in years rather than weeks. It doesn't need refrigeration. It doesn't take valuable space. And it costs less to transport.
I'm sorry, what?! (Score:2)
1. Use a complicated-but-still-doesn't-require-a-damn-smartphone system of price tags to tell customers the older stuff is cheaper.
2. Leave the new stuff in the back until the old stuff is sold.
3. Stop overstocking on milk.
Re: (Score:3)
2. Leave the new stuff in the back until the old stuff is sold.
Watch all the Karens unpack the milk shelf to get the new cartons out of the back row.
If you really want to reduce waste, start selling pint containers of milk again. I don't know why they stopped. I suspect that they were selling more by having people partially use half gallons and throw them out when stale.
Re: (Score:2)
If you really want to reduce waste, start selling pint containers of milk again.
They do sell them, at least in the US. If your store doesn't stock em, it's likely because they don't sell. They're just not as cost efficient.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I search for the milk with the furthest out expiration date and will reach to the back to get it.
I do this because I shop perhaps once every seven to ten days and don't usually use much milk but my use does vary quite a bit. I generally buy gallon jugs (which are, per ounce, quite a bit cheaper) which insures that I won't run out in a "high use 7 or 10 day period" and still have some left over -- even if I use a bit more than usual, it doesn't run out until the next shopping trip has rolled around. Sometime
Re: I'm sorry, what?! (Score:2)
Buy either organic or lactose free milks. They both last well over a month after being opened.
Re: (Score:2)
Both are an unnecessary expense (anyway, I don't see "sell by" dates on ordinary organic milk that is normally beyond that of the regular milk -- and ultra-pasteurized tastes like crap).
Re: I'm sorry, what?! (Score:2)
Bingo! I really donâ(TM)t want my milk going off during the week due to the inconvenience that will cause. Getting up and finding breakfast is off is not fun, especially when you have young children.
One of the UK supermarkets plans to scrap use by dates in favour of a sniff test (https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59928650). Well, I canâ(TM)t sniff it before I buy, and this doesnâ(TM)t give a clue if it will last two days or eight. I donâ(TM)t mind use milk past the use-by date, but I
Re: (Score:2)
The study seems rather bogus - or at least the conclusions are being misleadingly used. The TFA seems to indicate that the point of the QR code's is actually to obscure the "use by" date so that people don't grab the freshest milk, leaving older milk on the store shelves. Also related to this, the food waste they're referring to is not by the end consumers... it's about the stores that have to discard expired milk. Plus when drawing their conclusions, they are seemingly ignoring the part where the QR-coded
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe it wouldn't be an improvement for you.
The improvement is for the people who can't figure out how many days are in a month.
Re: (Score:2)
There s no improvement.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Why would you trust a QR code on a milk carton? (Score:5, Informative)
We train people to not blindly click on a link in an email but then tell them to blindly trust a QR code on a milk carton is safe.
Re: (Score:2)
QR codes don't automatically do anything and Google very likely does analysis on what comes back to see if it's harmful just like they have built in protections in Chrome.
And yes, with QR code support built into phones, they're becoming far more useful. Especially in industry.
could be anything (Score:3)
There could be anything behind that QR code. My daughter got one of her classmates to 3D print a QR code for a rickroll, she uses it as a keychain. She get people to scan her keychain all the time, she thinks its the funniest thing.
Why get rid of the date? (Score:2)
Getting a flashback here... (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm thinking this is Cuecat 2.0. Just not quite as clumsy, given it uses your smartphone, but just as ridiculously unnecessary.
That's the thing about this. Whatever the technology used, you still need to update a human-readable price tag nearby and print a date on the milk, or you're really going to annoy your customers (at least 40%, but I have my doubts about those numbers) who don't want to pull out their damned smartphone just to see when the milk's sell-by date is.
We have all these utopian dreams of "hey, a smart fridge could tell you when you're running low on x, or when your y is about to expire, or could suggest a recipe for z". What's not said is: "Oh, but the downside is that a giant corporation is going to keep careful track of every food item you buy and stock, and how much you eat and when, will leave you with obsolete technology in five years instead of the twenty-five your fridge actually lasts, and... how does this work for pantry items again?"
This sort of technology may someday be practical, but until it's actually modular (can be updated), and can be controlled by me and me alone with an open source solution (i.e. probably never, sadly), I'll take my appliances dumb, thanks.
slashvertisment? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I prefer to buy milk with an upcoming expiration date. I'm pretty sure there are laws against selling stuff with recent expiration dates.
Easier way to cut waste: (Score:2)
Buy oatmilk instead. Seriously, the stuff I buy tastes like milk, is healthier for you, and it has a shelf-life of months, not weeks.
Re: (Score:2)
I still prefer dairy milk; but oatmilk is the first milk substitute I can actually tolerate drinking from a glass.
Is the date IN the QR code? (Score:4, Insightful)
If it is, it's annoying, because I don't want to have to use my phone. But if it isn't, it's absolutely unacceptable, because I often don't have any signal inside a supermarket.
This is daft! (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
1) human beings cannot read QR codes
It's not that bad [ams.org]. With a little practice, you'll be reading them like normal letters. The next step is to grab a wire and download a web page.
Re: (Score:2)
1) human beings cannot read QR codes. Would need a smart device, just to check your darn milk, this is ridiculous.
It's a system Lennart Poettering can get 100% behind!
NOPE! I like my human readable date! (Score:4, Insightful)
Take your QR code and shove it right up your asshole sideways. I know what they are, and how they work, and I don't want to sit there at the store and try to scan every fucking bottle qr to figure out which one is newest via your internet database on shitty store wifi or a poor cellular signal.
What you will actually reap from this nonsense is refrigerator doors held open for significantly longer. Consumers only come in two types -- they either don't care, or they always select a carton with the latest available expiration date -- either learn this and adapt, or go find a new job that isn't a part of this game.
Technology in Search of a Problem? (Score:2)
We could stay with having date printed on or stamped in the packaging, which requires nothing other than eyeballs to read, including scanning all of the cartons quickly if you want the freshest product. Or, have a printed QR code, hope that it does not get damaged (humans can read a partial date, not sure about partial QR codes being correctly read), pull out your phone, unlock your phone, open the camera app, scan the QR code at the correct range, grant permission, and see a date, then repeat for each con
Absolutely misleading headline? (Score:2)
Some college kids scanned QR codes on a milk carton is equivalent to consumers "embracing" a technology? More like cursing because there's no date on the carton and now they have to use an APP.
There is zero incentive for producers and retailers to reduce food waste at any point past the sale. They would prefer everyone to buy milk that's about to expire, throw out most of it, and buy more. That's why "best by" dates are intended to be misleading and you'll never change them.
Is this sample meaningful? (Score:4, Insightful)
The Cornell Dairy Bar seems to be oriented towards serving single meals, not stocking up for home use for the next week, so I question that this study really tells us much about consumer preferences that's useful in most of the "real world".
If you're going to drink it in ten minutes, the date really doesn't mean all that much. If the facility is not doing their job and is putting out old milk that is already turning that will result in people either avoiding the milk product in the future, demanding a replacement/refund, or selecting another venue to patronize. None are good for business and once a reputation is sullied, it's hard to get customers back.
I don't check dates on milk in such places but I certainly do at supermarkets when shopping for home use.
Incorrect conclusion (Score:2)
Great (Score:2)
Customers had a choice: purchasing milk with printed best-by dates, or buying containers with QR codes, which when scanned by a smart phone, would display the best-by date.
Now people will need a smartphone to know if food is safe to eat. I'll complain less if there's *also* a date printed on the carton -- I won't be scanning (potentially faked) QR codes at the store.
Wiedmann says the technology also exists where smart milk cartons could communicate with smart refrigerators to inform a household of the need for fresh milk.
Don't get me started on how dumb "smart" / Internet connected (surveillance) appliances are in the home...
A question and an insight... (Score:2)
Why doesn't the U.S. just switch to the bag-in-boxes which other countries use? That way they're shelf stable until you open them.
Also, I buy Fair Life milk. After you open it you're suppose to use it within 14 days. But unopened the expiration date is as much as three months. That's another packaging alternative which might help. I usually buy 3-4 containers at a time and I'm set for quite awhile.
Re: A question and an insight... (Score:2)
Isn't that bag-in-box milk ultra-pasteurized? That stuff tastes off.
I buy the "organic" milk. Not because it's organic, but because the expiration date is usually at least a month out and often two, and it definitely lasts to that date and beyond. Why the regular milk can't last that long is beyond me, but I'd rather pay a couple dollars more for milk I don't end up wasting.
Dumb and dumber (Score:2)
If a store wants to sell an older batch of something, they can put a "sale" sign on it. They already do this.
The QR code? I'm supposed to scan individual cartons, to see what they cost? Seriously?
Note that this only works if you are in real-time communication with the store's server. Which means using the store's app. Which will undoubtedly bombard you with advertising.
Please put both! (Score:2)
Another suggestion (Score:2)
This is obviously BS, but I have another idea to reform expiration dates. Use Y-m-d. I live in Europe and the order is totally random, depends where the product was made, but they don't even tell you that anymore, it must say it was made in the EU, no country.
Is this complexity really needed? (Score:2)
So they see value in spying users through the milk packages they purchase.
They say that they want to reduce wasted milk by dynamically lowering its price as its expiry date approaches, but I'd expect sellers to already do this, and it doesn't r
melt indicator (Score:5, Interesting)
How about something that permanently changes color when it warms up so that it can indicate to you the thing has been left outside and gotten warm, thereby allowing bacteria to grow? That would be easy to implement. .. just have a sticker with two colored liquids that melt at room temperature.. if they melt and dissolve into each other it'll show the item has been left outside.
Bad Headline (Score:2)
From reading the summary, the real story is that people are willing to buy milk close to expiration if you lower the price. They could do that already with no QR codes involved, in fact I am pretty sure I've seen some stores do that.
Well, as everybody is saying that is absurd.... (Score:2)
TFA is unfortunately not clear, but it states that there is an element of dynamic pricing in the QR, so if you scan the QR not only get the due date but also the price of that particular carton of milk, that will be reduced progressively as the expiration date approaches. That will hopefully reduce food waste.
Re: (Score:2)
This has 1 purpose and 1 purpose only. (Score:2)
Have YOU tried finding the Use By date? (Score:3)
I agree with everyone here, using a QR code is stupid. But how easy is it to find the Use By date?
At least in the UK, there's no standard location or rule for readability. Milk cartons might have big print, but say soft drinks tend to have it laser etched in tiny dots in 5 pt type on the base or the rim or the cap - it takes 5 minutes to find it, plus another 5 to find my reading glasses and an open window in full sunlight (OK, in the UK, that can take a month waiting for the rain to pass).
Re: (Score:2)
The solution to that is a standardized and legible date code. But since governments tend to work for corporate interests first, GLWT
This just sounds like (Score:2)
a best by date with extra steps.
Apparently anything simple must be made more complicated. Because, technology.
QR codes are hackable (Score:2)
huh? (Score:2)
"...to better depict how long the milk is drinkable ..."
What does that even mean?
Created on (date) plus X days = no good after (date)
How does that need to be "better depicted"? What "subtlety" is missing?
Re: (Score:2)
It's not. The person quoting the article is just a retard who missed the only important factor about the QR code.
People embraced the QR code because it could give a cheaper price. Discounts were given depending on how close the sell-by date was, and you could only see the discounted price by scanning the QR code. So people scanned the codes.
I think this study shows what people are willing to do for a discount.They aren't embracing this for being easier or better. They just want to pay less money.
Better technology (Score:2)
I already come, pre-installed with dynamic milk testing technology. I can determine whether or not milk is drinkable without a phone, and without a printed date.
My tongue can tell if it's poison.
My nose can tell if it's sour.
My ears can tell if it's producing gas.
My eyes can tell if the carton/jug/bag is bulging.
And since I store my milk correctly, the printed best-by date is often a month past, making it completely inaccurate.
I look forward to this new QR technology -- another bit of inaccurate technology
Your nose? (Score:2)
A solution desperately looking for a problem (Score:2)
Ok, I admit, I'm old and all that, but could someone please point out how adding the extra step "scan QR code" offers any significant improvement over the old process of "check expiry date - know whether milk is still good (provided it was stored correctly)"?
Only consumers that don't understand a calendar. (Score:2)
The Real Reason (Score:4, Insightful)
With dates printed on cartons, consumers typically buy the most-distant dated milk, but that leaves drinkable milk on store shelves, where retailers throw it out later, Wiedmann said.
Re: (Score:2)
In the store? Oh, sure... just start opening up the cartons and sniff them all.