Aldi is following Asda, M&S, and Sainsbury's in scrapping best before dates on some items of food.
Aldi's announcement will affect around 60 of its own brand products in a bid to help tackle food waste in homes. The move forms part of the company's commitment to reduce food waste by 20% by 2025 and halve it by 2030.
The supermarket is also taking other measures to reduce food waste. It has partnered with Neighbourly to donate 700,000 meals during the summer holidays.
READ MORE: Sainsbury's follow Asda and Morrisons in announcing big change
It has also partnered with surplus food app Too Good To Go in some stores, which see products that are approaching their use-by date collated into ‘Magic Bags’ containing at least £10 worth of groceries, which customers can buy for just £3.30 each vis the Too Good To Go app, before collecting them from the store.
The announcement comes after the Waste & Resources Action Programme (Wrap) said that ‘best before’ dates on fruit and vegetables are unnecessary and contribute to climate change. Wrap figures suggest that the average family throws away a shocking £60 worth of food and drink each month.
By the end of the year, Aldi will remove best before dates from around 60 fresh fruit and veg lines, including apples and pears, citrus fruits, potatoes, carrots and onions, which could help households to save on food waste each year. In January, Morrisons announced plans to remove ‘use by’ dates on milk and encourage consumers to use a “sniff test” instead to determine if it is OK to consume.
The announcement for Aldi follows Asda, who last week announced it is to remove ‘best before’ dates from almost 250 fresh fruit and vegetable products from September 1. Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer have made a similar move, removing the dates from hundreds of fresh products and Tesco lead the way when it got rid of them from more than 100 items way back in 2018.
Liz Fox, Corporate Responsibility Director at Aldi UK, said: “One of the reasons we are the UK’s cheapest supermarket is because we cut down on waste wherever we see it.
“And by getting rid of these dates on packaging, we can help customers get even better value by reducing the amount of food that goes to waste at home.
“This latest step, together with our partnerships with Neighbourly and Too Good To Go, is all part of our efforts to provide affordable, sustainable and responsible products for all our customers.”
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