Bye Bye Sell By

The 'Sell by' label on perishable foods is to be removed in an effort to reduce wastage, according to the Government on Thursday.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Agriculture (Defra) has announced that foods manufacturers should no longer use the 'sell by' date marks, instead using only 'best before' or 'use by'.

Defra said that the change would help consumers by improving the consistency of the use of the ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ date marks, and will reduce the amount of edible food that is destroyed by retailers.

Speaking Thursday morning, Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said: “We want to end the food labelling confusion and make it clear once and for all when food is good and safe to eat. This simpler and safer date labelling guide will help households cut down on the £12 billion worth of good food that ends up in the bin.”

Some five million tonnes of edible food is discarded by UK households annually, much of which is attributable to confusion over 'use by', 'sell by' and 'best before' label dates. Only the 'use by' date carries any health safety implications.

The new guidance for food producers outlines that ‘use-by’ labels should only be used where the food could be unsafe after that date. Most other foods should have a ‘best-before’ date only, to indicate when the food is no longer at its best, but is still safe to eat.

The change is also being supported by the Food Standards Authority (FSA). Liz Redmond, Head of Hygiene and Microbiology at the FSA said: “There is a lot of confusion amongst customers about date marks. A number of different dates can be found on our food, so we need to make sure that everyone knows the difference between them. We always emphasise that “use by” dates are the most important, as these relate to food safety.

"This new guidance will give greater clarity to the food industry on which date mark should be used on their products while maintaining consumer protection.”

Foods likely to require a ‘use-by’ date include soft cheese, ready-prepared meals and smoked fish, while those likely to require only a ‘best-before’ date include biscuits, jams, pickles, crisps and tinned foods.

Defra said that at least 60% of the 8.3 million tonnes of UK household food and drink waste is avoidable.

"That is 5.3 million tonnes of perfectly edible food per year – the equivalent of £680 per household with children. Waste and Resources Action Programme research has identified confusion over date labelling as one of the causes of this."

(DW/GK)