The British Retailers’ Consortium (BRC) has responded to new government guidance on expiry date labelling, calling on the coalition to educate consumers in an effort to reduce the amount of food they waste.
A new report issued by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) advised retailers to scrap “sell by” and “display until” labels in favour of “use by” and “best before” dates. It’s estimated that British shoppers throw away £12 billion worth of food every year.
“If the government really wants to make a difference to reducing food waste it should be educating consumers,” said BRC food director Andrew Opie. “Helping consumers understand that food past its best-before date can still be eaten or cooked could contribute to reducing food waste.”
Mr Opie urged Defra to concentrate on increasing public awareness of the differences in date labelling rather than cracking down on retail industry practices, pointing out that the system is relatively easy to understand.
Consumer group Which? welcomed the guidelines, with executive director Richard Lloyd claiming they will help shoppers save money and eat safely.
