GH GETTING GREENER
If you’ve ever suspected that a yogurt that’s just past its ‘use-by’ date was still okay to eat, it turns out you may have been right. Here’s why…
Tips to shop smarter and be more eco-conscious
Will changes to food labelling help fight food waste?
Use by, best before, sell by and display until… it’s estimated that the confusing range of date marks on food is responsible for 10% of food waste because these terms lead us to think, sometimes mistakenly, that a product is no longer edible**. Food waste is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and the UK alone bins 4.5m tonnes of food each year***. Now, food waste app and campaign group Too Good To Go is working with food manufacturers to change things.
It explains that while some foods, such as fresh meat, fish and poultry, fresh pasta and chilled ready meals always need to have a ‘use-by’ date for safety reasons, others – including bread, loose fruit and veg, and some cheeses, yogurts and juices – don’t. It’s urging companies to rethink whether some products could be labelled ‘best before’ rather than ‘use by’, to help us make the most of the food in our fridges and cupboards. You can already see ‘best-before’ dates rather than ‘use by’ on some Onken yogurts and The Laughing Cow cheeses, and certain products from Danone are expected to follow suit soon.
Too Good To Go also says some foods with a ‘best-before’ date don’t need a date mark at all. ‘The truth is that the dates given on “best-before” labels are often extremely conservative and that food can have a much longer life than is specified,’ explains Too Good To Go co-founder Jamie Crummie.
FOOD DATE LABELS EXPLAINED
Less than half of us can correctly explain what the terms ‘use by’ and ‘best before’ mean**. This is what you need to know...
USE BY Food isn’t safe to eat after this date, even if it looks or smells fine. Bin it!
BEST BEFORE Food is safe to eat after this date but the taste or quality might not be at its best. Look at it, smell it and taste it to decide whether it’s still good enough to eat.