The US government, in setting standards for food quality based on appearance, also shaped our perception of what is acceptable to eat. This does not always line up with reality. But having set the standards, the government then had to deal with food producers who took shortcuts to make food appear better to the consumer. What kind of added food coloring is acceptable or necessary? The first three minutes of this video is about the margarine wars, which you may remember from a previous post. But regulating the color of food goes way beyond that. While food safety is of paramount importance, it might be better for the public to get used to the way food looks before it is converted to Instagram quality in order to attract our eyes at the grocery store. -via Digg
Of course people are much more likely to buy something close to expiration if it still looks fresh, so in the long run it's probably a good way to cut down on food waste. There's a lot of stuff that goes into making food shelf appeal last.