Waitrose removed expiration dates from nearly 500 products

UK chain of stores: This is how we help our customers reduce food waste

[5 Agosto 2022]

Waitrose & Partners, which has 331 stores in England, Scotland, Wales and the Channel Islands and a growing online shopping business, has announced that it is removing the “Best Before…” label from nearly 500 fresh products, including root vegetables. Will give Fruits such as grapes, citrus fruits, apples and houseplants.

The retail chain explains in a note that “the removal of expiration dates is designed to reduce the amount of food waste occurring in homes across the UK by inviting customers to use their own judgement.”

Marija Rompani, director of sustainability and ethics at the John Lewis Partnership, which owns and operates two of Britain’s most well-known retail brands – John Lewis and Waitrose – stressed that ‘food waste remains a huge problem and only the UK’s In the U.S., 70% of all wasted food is caused by people in their homes. British households throw away 4.5 million tonnes of food every year, which means all energy and resources used to produce food are wasted. By eliminating the expiration date from our products, we want our customers to use their own judgment to decide whether a product is good to eat or not, which in turn will increase the likelihood of it not being eaten and becoming junk . By using the existing fresh food in our homes, we can also save money on our weekly household food purchases, which is becoming a serious concern for many. The goal builds on our current commitment to helping our customers reduce their food waste by 2030. By partnering with WRAP (Waste Resource Action Programme, a government initiative, Ed) To bring this initiative to life, we are delighted to help our customers play their part in solving this global problem ».

In the UK, as well as in the European Union, expiration dates are designed more to protect the quality of food than to show it to those who buy it. Even food not eaten by the recommended date is still good to eat and removing the expiration date from some products invites customers to check the quality of the food before eating it.

Waitrose & Partners explains that “expiration dates for all other products will still remain in effect for safety reasons. Eating food after the expiration date (unless it has been frozen or past the expiration date) can cause food poisoning.” can.’

Catherine David, WRAP director of collaboration and change, concluded: “Wasting food fuels climate change and costs people money. “Best before…” labels for fruits and vegetables are unnecessary and create food waste. Because they hinder people from exercising their judgment when food is still good to eat. We are absolutely delighted with this move by Waitrose which will help prevent good food from ending up in the trash. Ours It is estimated that removing the expiration dates of fresh fruits and vegetables could save the equivalent of 7 million bags of food from the cart, which is huge! There is much more we can do to tackle food waste: Fresh products It is also very important to store them in the refrigerator and lower the temperature below 5 °C.