Calls to cut food waste by getting rid of use by labels

RULES to remove date labels from hundreds of foods to help reduce waste have been proposed by government experts.

Huge quantities of food, particularly fresh fruit and vegetables, are put in the bin because they are past the ‘use by’ date.

But experts say families should be trusted to judge when fruit and veg are longer fit to eat.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Food Standards Agency and waste advisory charity WRAP have drawn up new guidelines.

Currently, products can have as many as three dates on them. ‘Display until’ is designed for supermarkets, rather than shoppers, to manage stock.

‘Best before’ indicates when an item is likely to be at its best, merely as a guide. ‘Use by’ is a legal definition to prevent people from eating products that might make them ill.

The guidelines say ‘use by’ dates should only be put on foods that pose a health risk if kept for too long, where harmful bacteria can multiply.

These include fresh meat, fish and poultry, chilled ready meals, cooked sliced meats, pate, cut fruit, fresh cream and sandwiches. Guidelines say there should be no ‘use by’ dates on uncut fresh fruit and veg, fizzy soft drinks, pasteurised fruit juice, packaged biscuits, bread and tinned foods.

Most foods would carry just one label, ‘best before’ or ‘use by’, and many would have none.