Thursday 25 August 2022

Asda ditches best before dates on fresh products to cut food waste

Asda has announced it is scrapping best before dates on almost 250 fruits and vegetable products to help reduce food waste.

The supermarket will remove the dates from packaged fruits and vegetables, including citrus fruits, potatoes, cauliflowers and carrots, across all its UK stores from 1st September 2022.

The dates will be replaced with a new code that will be used by employees to check quality and freshness.

Asda is also providing guidance online and on the packaging of products to help customers to understand how to best store and prepare fresh food as well as hints and tips on how to reduce food waste.

The latest move comes as research from WRAP reveals the average family throws away £60 worth of food and drink each month, with food waste responsible for an estimated 36 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year.

Andy Cockshaw, Head of Technical at Asda IPL said: “Reducing food waste in our business and in customers’ homes is a priority and we are always looking at different ways to achieve this.

“We know for customers this has become more important than ever in the current climate as many families are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis and are looking to make savings wherever they can.”