Co-op cuts best-by dates from 150 fruit and vegetable products

apples

The cooperative is set to remove best-before dates from many fruits and vegetables to reduce food waste.

The company said removing the dates from its fresh produce would help shoppers save money and help the environment.

It was said that food stored in the fridge would last much longer than the advertised best-before dates.

Larger national supermarkets including Sainsbury’s and Asda have taken similar steps over the past year.

Starting next week, Co-op is removing the sell-by date on more than 150 fresh produce, including apples, broccoli, carrots, onions, oranges, potatoes and tomatoes.

A small number of perishable products still have sell-by dates.

The move follows a trial last year with 20 products.

The Co-op group, which has 2,500 UK grocery stores, will instead use encrypted codes – a series of letters and numbers – for store staff to track how long products have been on the shelf.

It says that sell-by dates on fresh produce could mean people throw away fruit and vegetables if they’re still good to eat.

It said customers should make their own judgment as to whether fresh fruit and vegetables at home were spoiled.

Best before or use up by?

According to the Food Standards Agency, it’s important for people to know the difference between sell-by and best-before dates.

Best before dates are about the quality of a product and eating food after the best before date means that the food is probably safe to eat but may not be optimal.

Shelf life dates, on the other hand, are about food safety.

According to the Food Standards Agency, people should never eat food past an expiration date due to the risk of food poisoning.

Best before dates are usually found on foods that spoil quickly, such as meat and ready-to-eat salads.

Green claim

Adele Balmforth, Propositions Director at Co-op, said the UK is facing a “climate, environmental and cost of living crisis” but removing best-by dates would help customers reduce food waste.

Product tests by the environmental organization Wrap showed that fruit and vegetables stored in the refrigerator last much longer than the best-before date.

Broccoli can last about two weeks and apples for more than two months, the charity said.

Catherine David, Wrap’s director of collaboration and change, said households spend an average of £700 a year “on good food that ends up in the bin”.

UK households could save a total of £50m a year just by removing the sell-by dates on apples, bananas, broccoli, cucumbers and potatoes, according to the Wrap.

Co-op’s move follows similar policies of larger supermarkets.

Tesco, the UK’s largest grocer, removed the best before date from more than 180 fruit and vegetable lines in 2018, while Asda and Sainsbury’s followed suit on hundreds of lines last year.

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