Getting rid of ‘use by’ dates on food could save UK households £600MILLION per year
SCRAPPING “use by” dates in favour of “best before” on food could potentially save households £600 million per year, a government report has found.
New draft guidelines, written by the Food Standards Agency, Defra Labelling and the charity Wrap, said the use “overly cautious” labels are leading to huge waste and should be made simpler.
In the UK, of the total 7.3 million tonnes of household food waste each year, around 2 million tonnes are thrown away due to “not being used in time”, and for a third of this food, date labelling is cited as a factor.
The guidance now requires supermarkets to remove “use by dates” from food unless there is a risk health risk for customers, using just the “best before” date instead.
It also calls on food businesses to end multiple dates such as "display until" or "sell by" labels.
Consumers should instead have more time between opening food and eating it, as many of the "consume by" dates may be "over-cautious", the report warned.
Wrap estimated that an increase in product life of all perishable foods’ of just one day could help prevent up to 0.2 million tonnes of household food waste - potentially saving shoppers £600m on an annual basis.
Retailers are reluctant to change their labelling because it is an ";offence for a person to sell or supply food which does not meet food safety requirements, or which is not of the nature, substance or quality expected by the consumer," the guidance clarifies.
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"There certainly seems to have been a movement to shorten these dates over recent years, some dates used to be longer," Andrew Parry from Wrap, said.
This means shoppers are at risk of throwing perfectly good to eat food in the bin.
Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey said the food and catering industries have made strong progress in reducing household waste but there is still a long way to go.
"We know that confusing labels can contribute to food waste by suggesting items need to be thrown away sooner than is necessary, which is why this new guidance will make packaging much clearer for people as they do their weekly shop," she said.
Exactly when your food is still safe to eat has fuelled debates between, couples, room mates and colleagues for years.
Earlier this month, Sainsbury's said it is trialling a “Smart Fresh” label, which changes colour from yellow to purple, the longer a pack has been open.
This acts as a reminder for reducing the amount of perfectly good to eat product being thrown away ‘just in case’.
Top tips to cut your grocery bill
SAVVY shopper Emily Leary gave up food waste for 40 days and documented the challenge on her blog - A Mummy Too. Here are her tips
- Plan your family's meal every week before heading to the supermarket
- Store groceries correctly and keep your kitchen tidy
- Rearrange your fridge so items that are going out of date are at the front
- Eat off a smaller plate to ensure less waste
- Learn the difference between 'Use By' and 'Best Before' labels
- Pop half-used leftovers at the front of the fridge so you don't forget them
While some foods should indeed be chucked after their “use by” has passed, others you can take with a pinch of salt. The Sun Online has previously revealed the surprising foods - including bread, eggs and yogurt - you can safely eat past their use by dates.
We’ve also written a guide about what the labels – use by, best before and display until as well as sell by – really mean.
The Sun Online previously spoke to Emily Leary a mum-of-two who told us how you can save £60 on food every month just by rearranging your fridge and adjusting portion sizes.
5 surprising foods you can safely eat past their use-by dates
HAVE YOU ever been scared to eat the food in your fridge because it’s “out of date”? Here are 5 foods that are safe to eat
- Bread - The use by date on bread assumes you’ve left it out in the kitchen. You can extend this by up to two weeks by keeping your loaf in the fridge.
- Eggs - If you keep your eggs in the fridge, you can eat them up to three weeks after the use by date. But, beware of any unpleasant odour when you crack them – this means they should be chucked.
- Chocolate - As long as your chocolate tastes OK, you’re pretty much good to go. Sometimes a white film might form on older chocolate, which is caused by the sugar crystallising, but it won't harm you.
- Hard cheese - Mould is unable to penetrate harder cheeses such as cheddar, so you can cut off any mould and it will be safe to eat.
- Yogurt - As long the yogurt hasn’t been opened, you can usually enjoy it for two weeks after the sell-by date.
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