Tesco removes ‘best before dates’ on fruit and veg

Tesco has announced plans to remove ‘best before dates’ from almost 70 fruit and vegetable products, trying to reduce the amount of usable food being thrown away. Best before labels will be removed from popular lines such as apples, potatoes, tomatoes, lemons and other citrus fruit and onions, among others.

The supermarket said its decision was based on research by the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI) which found that less than half of respondents understood what ‘best before dates’ mean. Best before date labels are added by retailers as a quality indication, and show that food might not be at its best but is still edible. ‘Use by’ labels indicate that there is a safety risk if food is eaten after a certain date.

The Food Standards Agency states that “the best before date, sometimes shown as BBE, is about quality and not safety. The food will be safe to eat after this date but may not be at its best.”

Independent.co.uk quoted Tesco’s head of Food Waste, Mark Little, as saying: “We know some customers may be confused by the difference between ‘Best Before’ and ‘Use By’ dates on food and this can lead to perfectly edible items being thrown away before they need to be discarded.”