Tesco reduces use of best before dates in move to cut food waste

From: FoodBev

Tesco will remove best before dates on the packaging of nearly 70 of its fruit and vegetable lines as it aims to reduce food waste.

The move is being made to help prevent perfectly edible food from being thrown away and will apply to products such as apples, potatoes, tomatoes, lemons and other citrus fruit, and onions.

It follows a recent campaign by the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI) into causes of food waste which found that less than half of respondents understood the meaning of best before dates.

However, more than 70% of people polled by NFWI correctly identified the meaning of use by labels, which have to be put on all foods where there is a safety risk if they are eaten after that date.

Best before labels are put on foods by retailers as a quality indication to show that although they are no longer at their best, they are still good to eat.

Tesco head of food waste Mark Little said: “We know some customers may be confused by the difference between best before and use by dates on food and this can lead to perfectly edible items being thrown away before they need to be discarded.

“We have made this change to fruit and vegetable packaging as they are among the most wasted foods. Many customers have told us that they assess their fruit and vegetables by the look of the product rather than the best before date code on the packaging.”

David Moon, head of business collaboration at charity Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), said: “WRAP is working with the food and drink sector to review all the evidence on date labelling for fresh produce and agree best practice. This change by Tesco provides a good opportunity to learn about the customer response, and we anticipate Tesco will share their findings.

“With all fresh produce, appropriate storage including use of the refrigerator is essential in giving the customer more time to use their food, so clarity of storage advice on pack and in-store will be vital.”

The move follows an announcement earlier this year that Tesco would introduce ‘colleague shops’ in all of its UK stores for employees to help themselves to free food which is approaching its expiry date.

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