UK retailer Waitrose has announced that it will remove best before dates on nearly 500 fresh products, in a bid to reduce the volume of food waste occurring in households. The change will come into force in September, and will be applied to fresh products including root vegetables, fruits, and indoor plants.

waitrose best before date

In the UK, best before dates are designed to display the food quality for customers, rather than the safety of the food – if food is at its best before date, it should still be suitable to eat after this date has passed.

Waitrose is encouraging consumers to use their judgement to check food quality before consuming. Despite the removal of best before dates, ‘use by’ dates will still be in place across products for safety. Eating food after its ‘use by’ date (unless it has been frozen on or before its use by date) could result in food poisoning, the supermarket warns.

Last month, Marks and Spencer announced plans to remove best before dates on over 300 fresh produce items, with a similar objective of curbing food waste and encouraging more sustainable choices from customers.

In April, the Co-op reported that it would scrap use-by dates from all of its own-brand yoghurts. The company highlighted that 42,000 tonnes – £100 million worth – of edible yoghurt is thrown out by UK homes each year, primarily due to guidance printed on packets.

In 2019, The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) published its Retail Survey, outlining the progress made by grocery retailers and major brands in improving food labelling and packaging. The charity reiterated its calls for retailers to improve labelling to reduce food waste and recommended removing ‘best before’ dates from uncut fresh produce.

Marija Rompani, Director of Sustainability and Ethics, John Lewis Partnership, said: “Food waste continues to be a major issue and in the UK alone 70 per cent of all food wasted is by people in their own homes. UK households throw away 4.5 [million] tonnes of edible food every year, meaning that all the energy and resources used in food production [are] wasted.

“By removing best before dates from our products, we want our customers to use their own judgement to decide whether a product is good to eat or not, which in turn, will increase its chances of being eaten and not becoming waste. By using up existing fresh food in our homes, we can also save on our weekly household food shop, which is becoming an increasingly pressing concern for many.”

“The objective builds on our existing commitment to help our customers reduce their food waste by 2030. By working with WRAP to bring this initiative to life, we’re delighted to help our customers play their own role in tackling this global issue.”

Catherine David, Director of Collaboration and Change at WRAP, added: “Wasting food feeds climate change and it costs people money. Best Before dates on fruit and veg are unnecessary and create food waste because they get in the way of people using their judgement when food is still good to eat.

“We are absolutely delighted by this move from Waitrose which will help stop good food ending up in the bin. We estimate that removing dates on fresh fruit and veg could save the equivalent of seven million shopping baskets of food from the bin, which is huge!

“There is loads more that we can do to tackle food waste together – for fresh produce it’s also really important to store it in the fridge, and knock the temperature down to below five degrees. WRAP found that apples last more than two months longer when refrigerated, and broccoli two weeks longer. Love Food Hate Waste can help with ways to avoid food waste, save money and fight climate change.”