Earlier today one of the UK's most popular supermarket announced plans to ban labels on 500 of its products. It is following in the footsteps of Morrisons and M&S - who have already made a similar move.
Waitrose will remove the “best before” dates from September, on items including packaged fruit and vegetables. The move is expected to eliminate millions of baskets worth of food waste, the retailer said.
It comes after rival Marks & Spencer announced it will axe "best before" dates from more than 300 fruit and vegetable products last month. Morrisons announced plans in January to remove "use by" dates on milk and encourage consumers to use a "sniff test" instead.
READ MORE: Sainsbury's shoppers 'fall to their knees' when they see 'astronomical' price of fish fingers
Shoppers have been quick to react to the decision, with many angry about it. On Facebook, Margaret Ngsc said: "When supermarkets make such decisions, have they ever thought about people suffering from temp or perm loss of smell sense because of the stupid covid 19? I didnt feel the imminence until i became a victim. I was totally helpless when I tried to smell a bottle of milk the other day...."
Tracey Garton said: "I'm not fussed about bb4 dates after I've bought stuff as I use common sense on whether or not it's gone off....BUT I am bothered about buying expensive stuff that's not fresh. Put a picked/processed/packed date on them then at least I can choose the freshest products to buy."
Gail Hudson wote: "People often only have the time to shop one day a week, whether it’s visiting a store or online shopping. I would like to think my groceries are fresh and will last well into the coming week. These shops will be passing on food that is well passed it best, for the customer to throw out, to save the shop the trouble and price of throwing it away themselves. It’s more about shop profits at customers expense."
Robert Steven Hunt slammed: "Just another example of how standards of service and the quality of products are falling and yet the prices still rise at astonishingly rapid rates! Such a sad world that we live in now post pandemic, I guess it is down hill all the way from now on! Pay more … get less!"
Many other people were praised for the decision to remove best before labels from fruit and veg.
Karen Markham said: "I haven’t taken any notice of best before dates for years.. hopefully it’ll stop people wasting so much food." Pauline Cory added: "Love this, never had dates on anything when I was growing up and in early adulthood, still here to tell the tale! If you bothered to read the article (which says it will be on fruit and veg) some of the comments on here would not ever needed to have been made - you are not going to die from eating out of date fruit and veg, which is pretty obvious when it's not fit for consumption!!"
Em Peel-Rice agreed: "Good, too many people get rid of perfectly safe food because of the dates, I've never personally taken notice, if the product smells, looks and tastes OK then I'll eat/drink/use it. They didn't have any of these dates until recent years, they didn't even have proper fridges a hundred years ago."
Farzana Akhlaq commented: "So really these before dates have nothing g to do with products going out of date." Steve Vargerson joked: "Returning to observation and common sense.....well I never."
Tamara Simeunovic praised: "I like the sound of this. Some best before dates are rubbish and good food gets thrown away even when its still good to eat in order to panic people and make them spend more money when we are in living in a financial crisis. Using eyes and nose to be able to tell is better than following a computerised label. Also freezing stuff to make it last longer if you are not gonna eat it straight away is great idea.."
Kelly Edwards said: "Calm down people. Its just best before dates that are being scrapped not use by! There is a huge difference! This is such a good idea as far too much food is chucked away because of a date the supermarket chucked on extra so youll buy more. Common sense guys."
Nicole Leiner suggested: "About time. UK the only country where they put a date on fruit and veg. Use your eyes and nose and make up your own mind. It’s not rocket science!"
Marija Rompani, director of sustainability and ethics at the John Lewis Partnership, which owns Waitrose, said: "UK households throw away 4.5m tonnes of edible food every year, meaning that all the energy and resources used in food production is wasted. By removing best-before dates from our products, we want our customers to use their own judgment 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."
READ NEXT:
