The liver paste package has an expiration date of nearly five years, yet it says “Always fresh!” on the packaging.
Maria Laingen (21) has just put such a package in the shopping cart, but does not think about the labeling.
– It’s a bit rude to call liver paste “fresh” when the expiration date is five years, says Laingen.
The product in question is the single-serving version of the classic Norwegian “yellow” liver paste box.
Misleading
It’s misleading to claim that canned liver paste with a five-year shelf life is fresh, says nutrition professor Birger Svihus at the Norwegian University of Environmental and Biological Sciences (NMBU).
Stabburets has been making its yellow can of liver paste since 1949. It has also introduced single-serving packs in recent years. It’s these single-serving packs that have the text “Always Fresh!” inscribed.
And it may seem that Stabburet is happy with the slogan, which is written in five different places on the packaging.
– In principle, the liver pate box can stand on the store shelf for almost five years until the date is marked. So the liver paste is obviously not fresh, says Svihus.
The nutrition professor believes Stabburet uses the word “fresh” in a completely different way than most people.
– The food industry likes to use words like fresh, natural and homemade to create a better impression of food than there is a basis, says Svihus.
– New experience
Stabburet deems it correct to use the word “fresh” even if you open a five-year-old package of liver paste.
– This is a portion pack where you eat liver paste right after opening the pack and get a new experience, says Dag Olav Stokken. He is communications director of Orkla, which is behind the Stabburet brand.
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According to the Bokmål dictionary, the word “fresh” is used for something that has been made or prepared recently. Matportalen.no, which is in charge of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, writes:
“Assessing whether labeling is misleading is an overall assessment. It includes discretionary assessments, but long shelf life is generally not what consumers expect from a product labeled fresh.”
But Stabburet insists there is coverage for using “fresh” and “fresh,” even for single-serving packs dated 2027.
– Our goal is for you to eat the product immediately after opening it and have a fresh product experience, says Stokken.
The communications director also says this is in line with how consumers in conversations with them explain why they prefer single-serving packs over a larger box.
Hypothetical canning
But as for the classic big box of liver paste, why doesn’t it say “always fresh”?
– When you open a big box of liver pâté and then put it in the fridge, it will seem a little less fresh in the following days. We only use the “always fresh” description for single-serve packages because you eat the product as soon as you open the package, says Stokken.
Think all canned food is cool as long as you eat it right away?
– I will not go into hypothetical questions about describing other products beyond showing that a canned product will gradually deteriorate after being opened. Therefore, many consumers choose a single-serving package in which they open and eat the product right away, Stokken says.
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Maria Laingen (21) believes Stabburet is wrong when she calls tinned food too fresh.
– I’d call it a publicity stunt. Fresh is a word I associate with, for example, fruits and vegetables, not canned, says Laingen.
The professor has no doubts why Stabburet put “Altid fresk!” on the packaging.
– Calling liver paste too fresh certainly makes it easier to sell the product, but it would be completely wrong to call it too fresh, says Svihus.
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