Tesco Removes Best Before Dates On Some Products To Reduce Food Wastage

Food waste is an issue that has come up time and again. A recent study showed that (sorry in advance) healthy people were responsible for the most food wastage due to fruits and vegetables not having a very long shelf life. However, now Tesco is planning on removing the ‘best before’ dates on certain food products in an effort to reduce food wastage.

Some of the 70 items that will have the best before label removed are apples, potatoes, tomatoes, lemons, other citrus fruit and onions. Best before labels indicate that the food quality may deteriorate past the given date, while use by labels let you know when it is less safe to use a product.

“We know some customers may be confused by the difference between ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ dates on food and this can lead to perfectly edible items being thrown away before they need to be discarded,” said Mark Little, Tesco’s head of food waste.

He said fruit and vegetables were among the food most frequently thrown away by consumers, although many are ignoring “best before” dates already.

“Many customers have told us that they assess their fruit and vegetables by the look of the product rather than the ‘best before’ date code on the packaging,” he added.