Safefood Ireland has applauded measures by supermarket chains to scrap best before dates on some fruit and vegetables.
Chains such as Aldi, Lidl and Supervalu typically do not place best before dates on unprocessed fruit and vegetables in order to reduce the issue of food waste nationally. Some exceptions are made to this policy, including placing best before dates on fresh berries in some circumstances.
Safefood reassured customers that this policy does not violate health and safety guidelines as it only applies to a specific number of food items.
“We’re satisfied from our point of view that this is not a food safety issue. It is about the quality of the food and that there isn’t a risk to consumers by removing best before dates from fresh fruit and vegetables,” Dr Linda Gordon, Safefood’s Chief Specialist in food science, told RTÉ this morning.
Safefood’s comments follow research from the Environmental Protection Agency which revealed 55 per cent of households get rid of food as a result of best before dates. The organisation also stressed the difference between ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ dates. Best before dates act as a guide for consumers to make their own choice regarding food, while use by dates indicate whether or not a food remains safe to eat.
Some of the most likely foods to be thrown out due to best before guidance include potatoes, bananas and apples. The Environmental Protection Agency also revealed that the average household throws out €700 worth of food annually due to expired best before dates.
Coyne Research published a study in 2021 that revealed Dublin shoppers wasted over €400 in groceries as a result of the COVID-19 lockdowns. Over a third of adults said they threw out more food than they would have prior to the pandemic.
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