In a fresh report, ‘Household food and drink waste – a product focus’, WRAP said food not being used in time represented almost half (2Mt) of the 4.2Mt of avoidable food waste annually.
Categories of products most often disposed in this way were dairy and eggs, followed by fruit juice and smoothies, it stated.
“For all products, except eggs where there is a specific legal requirement, it is important that ‘display until’ dates continue to be removed to make the important dates (those informing consumers about food safety or food quality) more prominent and less ambiguous,” the report urged. “This could be supported by providing clear information as to what ‘use by’ and ‘best before’ dates mean.”
Clearer explanations
In addition, firms should provide clearer explanations of the differences between ‘best before’ and ‘use by’, it claimed.
“In some cases, people are using date labels incorrectly; for example, the date label was given as the trigger in one in eight decisions (12%) to throw bread away, even though this carries a ‘best before’ date and can generally be consumed for a few days after this date, as long as it has been stored correctly to prevent it going stale or mouldy,” it stated.
The research outlined several suggestions for ways domestic food waste could be avoided, including freezing leftovers, given that cooking or serving too much emerged as other important causes of waste.
Increasing awareness
Other suggestions were increasing awareness of where food could be eaten after it had passed its ‘best before’ date, given that it posed no immediate food safety threat, and simply increasing shelf life.
Given that 1Mt of avoidable food waste was binned either whole or still in its packaging, the industry could do more to help plan meals better to minimise unnecessary purchases.
Potatoes were by far the biggest food waste offenders, generating 730,000t of avoidable food waste annually, the report highlighted.
Top five avoidable food waste culprits
- Potatoes: 730,000t
- 'Standard bread': 460,000t
- Fresh bananas: 310,000t
- Milk: 290,000t
- Poultry: 280,000t
Food and Drink Federation director general Melanie Leech said it would keep supporting WRAP's work. “Throwing away food that is not used in time is an avoidable and expensive form of waste, both for consumers and the environment.
"As manufacturers, we want consumers to get the most out of the products they buy, whilst ensuring food remains safe to eat. This is why we will continue to work with WRAP, retailers and other supply chain partners to build on the substantial progress that has already been made and help address the challenges that remain.”