Over the course of the last year, a number of supermarkets have removed the use and sell by dates on fresh produce in a widespread effort to reduce food waste.
With many items still perfectly fit for consumption, but a few days older than suggested dates on packaging - an abundance of fresh food was wasted each and every day across the United Kingdom.
To now allow staff to rotate stock, there are no codes on packaged fruit and veg - but one Tesco employee has revealed how to work out when the produce was put out, to ensure you bag the freshest foods each and every time.
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The Express reports that Finance Girl Bargains on TikTok shared a video, with the caption reading: “Tesco staff training taught me the higher the number the fresher the product.”
The content creator demonstrated on packs of mangetout; the bag on the left had the code A3 versus the bag on the right displaying the code A6. The letter correlates to the month of the year, and the number is the day.
So A equates to January and three is the 3rd day of the month, or six is the sixth day of the month. One reiterated in the comments section: "A - January B - February C - March D - April and so on and so on and then the numbers is the day of the month.”
Another added: “Coming from someone that works with produce in Tesco head office, it’s a date code so yes technically correct.”
A third wrote: “Working in food manufacturing this is a date code so the letter is the month and the number is the day.” Another comment read: “I had no idea!! thank you for sharing.”
The official term for the coding system is Julian Date codes, and it only applies to pre-packed items. Someone said: “If you bought fresh loose fruit and veg there is no date or code but it will last longer anyway cos not washed and packed!” [SIC]
Not all supermarkets follow the same coding system though, someone explained it was different for Morrisons. Niamh wrote: “In Morrisons, it’s the letter is the month J- Jan F- Feb etc. Obviously, June and July are JN and JY.”
According to a report by The Grocer, supermarkets throw away 100,000 edible food annually in the UK alone. It’s estimated that the UK’s total food waste could feed upwards of 30 million people a year.
As a result, supermarkets have a responsibility to reduce food waste as much as possible. Most food waste, however, comes from households; 10.2 million tonnes of food is wasted of which 7.1 million tonnes is from households.
Every day, the UK throws away 20 million slices of bread, 5.2 million glasses of milk, 4.4 million potatoes, and 900,000 bananas, according to Which.
There are several ways to reduce food waste:
- Write a weekly meal plan and only buy what you will need and eat.
- Check the fridge is at the correct temperature - between zero and five degrees Celsius.
- Keep fruit and vegetables in the fridge (if you have the space) as they will last longer. Potatoes, onions, bananas and pineapples are the exception.
- Keep bagged salads and spinach leaves fresher by adding kitchen towel paper into the bags - it absorbs the moisture and stops leaves from going slimy.
- Use leftovers for meals the following day or freeze them for future meals.
- Freeze what you won’t use.
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