Waitrose removes best-before dates from fresh food to reduce waste

From September, Waitrose, the staff-owned supermarket chain will scrap the dates on packaged fruit and vegetables, including lettuce, cucumber and peppers, to encourage consumers to use their judgment about when their food products have gone off.

UK households throw away 4.5 million tonnes of edible food every year, meaning that all the energy and resources used in food production are wasted.

The government-backed Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP) estimates that removing dates on fresh fruit and veg could save the equivalent of 7m shopping baskets of food from the bin in the UK.

According to Wrap, potatoes are the most wasted food in the UK, followed by bread and milk.

Best-before dates are intended to indicate food quality rather than safety. In contrast, use-by dates are given for safety and could result in food poisoning if ignored.

Waitrose is the latest to make the move as supermarkets change tactics to reduce food waste for environmental reasons and to reduce costs for shoppers and stores. WRAP experts state best-before dates on fruit and vegetables are not needed, and that they also contribute to the ongoing climate crisis.

Catherine David, director of collaboration and change at Wrap said: “Best-before dates on fruit and veg are unnecessary and create food waste because they get in the way of people using their judgment when food is still good to eat.

“We are delighted by this move from Waitrose which will help stop good food from ending up in the bin.”

Initiatives like these from Waitrose are huge steps in the right direction to help take action against the ongoing issues we are facing with food waste.