Omission of best-before date

Waste of food products with a long shelf life, such as rice, pasta, coffee and soup, is reduced by 12 percent if no best-before date is indicated on the packaging. If the best-before date is omitted in combination with the words ‘long shelf life’ being displayed on the label, then 31 percent fewer products are thrown away. These findings come from a quantitative study that Wageningen Food & Biobased Research conducted on behalf of State Secretary Martijn van Dam from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. Under European regulations, it is mandatory for manufacturers to include a best-before date on the label on the grounds of food safety. Only products on a special list are exempt from this rule. Van Dam has called for this list to be significantly extended to include products such as dry macaroni, couscous, semolina and rice, since doing so would not affect food safety. 

https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/publicaties/2016/02/11/aan-tafel(Dutch only)
and https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/formulieren/2016/02/22/roadmap-for-action-on-food-product-improvement