Call to review ‘best before’ rules ahead of supply crunch

Labelling laws encourage shoppers to throw away 20pc of the fresh produce they buy, growers claim

MINISTERS have been urged to consider overhauling “best before” labels for fresh produce amid concerns that households are throwing away hundreds of millions of pounds of food during the cost of living crisis.

Growers are calling a review of the current labelling system, which they claim has resulted in households throwing away as much as 20pc of the fruit and vegetables that they are buying.

Under government guidance, retailers are required to display a best-before or use-by date for any fruit or vegetables that have been peeled, cut or treated.

The Lea Valley Growers Association, whose members produce about three quarters of Britain’s cucumber and sweet pepper crop, said food waste could be “significantly reduced with changes made to existing labelling and specification”.

Lee Stiles of the Lea Valley Growers Association said: “British-grown fresh produce usually arrives in store within 24 hours of picking so the shelf life is far longer than imported fresh produce that can take four days to arrive by road or sea from Europe or North Africa.”

Jimmy Russo, the co-owner of Valley Grown Salads, which supplies tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines and peppers to major supermarkets, said: “I’d like to see the whole best-before situation reviewed. Around 20pc of what is purchased in fresh produce is thrown away, and that’s not good. That’s not good for the environment, and it’s not good if you’re spending £20 on fresh produce you’re throwing away £4.”

It comes as Britain battles a cost of living crisis, with some grocery items costing 20pc more than at the start of the year. Figures released last week suggested that more than a fifth of Britons were struggling to make ends meet, as higher grocery bills came at the same time as soaring energy and fuel costs.

According to figures compiled by Sainsbury’s earlier this year, British households are throwing away £247m worth of potatoes every year, £22m worth of carrots, £112m of courgettes and £176m of tomatoes.

Food charity Wrap recently conducted research which showed selling apples, bananas, broccoli, cucumber and potatoes loose and removing best before dates could result in a combined saving of around 100,000 tonnes of household food waste.

The Food Standards Agency says best-before labelling is about “quality and not safety”.

It says: “The food will be safe to eat after this date but may not be at its best.”

“Use by” dates, meanwhile, show when perishable items such as meat and dairy are no longer safe to eat. The system is controlled by Defra in England.

Growers have called for change ahead of an expected crunch on supply later this year, with the Lea Valley Growers Association having found that

‘It’s not good if you’re spending £20 on fresh produce, you’re throwing away £4’

90pc of its members had not planted sweet pepper and cucumber crops in January because of higher costs.

By the end of March, the price to produce a cucumber was at 50p and was on course to reach 75p, in contrast to 25p last year as fertiliser and carbon dioxide prices soar.

Supermarkets have been attempting to keep prices down, with grocers including Morrisons and Asda pushing through price cuts across their ranges earlier this year. However, Mr Russo said this was putting growers under unnecessary pressure.

He said: “I respect supermarkets are under pressure to be able to compete on the high street, we get that. But I have a fear for growers.”

Pressure is mounting for a wider rethink on the labelling. Morrisons has already ditched use-by dates on milk, urging customers to do a “sniff test”.