Report: Blames for Food Waste

Josh Brooks / packagingnews.co.uk

BBC report blames consumers for food waste

British households’ shocking level of food waste has been blamed primarily on consumers – and confusion over best before dates – in a primetime BBC show last night.

The Countryfile programme was investigating the issue of the 25% of food bought by UK consumers that is thrown away.

Consumer confusion over the difference between ‘display until’, ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ dates was highlighted in the context of food that is perfectly edible being thrown out by households.

A mother of two interviewed in the show was persuaded not to throw away a quantity of fruit that had passed its ‘best before’ date but was still edible.

Some 16m tonnes of food are disposed of each year, the programme reported, with around 25% of that made up of fruit and vegetables.

Around half of all wasted food is generated by households, with another quarter generated in the hospitality industry, Countryfile reported.

The show featured representatives from Wrap’s Love Food, Hate Waste campaign and the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA).

Mark Linehan of the SRA told reporter John Craven that restaurant diners should be given the opportunity to take home a “doggie bag” from restaurants in order to cur levels of food waste.

Craven’s report went on to highlight the growing support for anaerobic digestion plants as a way to convert wasted food into electricity, and visit the Fareshare charity, which redistributes food that is rejected or thrown oyt by supermarkets.

Food waste has become a major issue in the packaging sector in recent months, particularly following the Save Food conference at Interpack in May.

Craven’s report concluded that, as growing demand for food pushes up prices, “it may be cost rather than conscience that forces us to change our wasteful ways.”

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