Asda and Sainsbury's 'best before' label changes that come into force as early as tomorrow

The supermarket giants have both announced the change that it says aims to help customers reduce food waste and save money.

From Thursday, best before dates will disappear from almost 250 Asda products such as packaged fruit and vegetable products including citrus fruits, potatoes, cauliflowers, and carrots, across its stores.

Andy Cockshaw, Head of Technical at Asda IPL said: “Reducing food waste in our business and in customers’ homes is a priority and we are always looking at different ways to achieve this. We know for customers this has become more important than ever in the current climate as many families are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis and are looking to make savings wherever they can.”

Asda is also going to provide additional guidance online and on packaging with further tips on food storage and preparation as well as other advice to cut down on food waste.

In its statement announcing the change, Asda said: "By removing best before dates and encouraging customers to decide themselves if the food is edible, Asda aims to reduce food waste in the home and in the process save customers money.

"The dates will be replaced by a new code which will be used by store colleagues to ensure the highest quality and freshness is maintained. They are supported by specialist green grocers in over 250 stores who have received training in all aspects of Asda’s fresh produce operation, including where products should be stored to maintain freshness and quality."

Meanwhile Sainsbury's has announced major changes to its date labels on packaging for 276 own-brand products from the end of August.

'Best before’ dates will be taken off a raft of fresh produce including pears, onions, tomatoes, and citrus fruits from over 100 product lines, and a further 130 products including potatoes will follow.

A statement from the company said: "These upcoming changes could help UK households to save 11,000 tonnes of food each year, the equivalent of 17 million products. An on-pack message ‘no date helps reduce waste’ will instead be present across the fresh produce where the label changes come into play."

Sainsbury’s will also switch all ‘use by’ dates on own-brand yoghurts to ‘best before’ dates by the end of this year.

Kate Stein, Director of Technical at Sainsbury’s said the supermarket giant knows "that by avoiding unnecessary waste, we can help our customers save money by making their food shop last longer".

She added: "The changes that we’re announcing today will do just that, giving customers more autonomy to make their own decisions on whether their food is good to eat, and preventing them from disposing of food too early."

Both supermarkets have cited research from the climate action group Waste & Resources Action Programme reported that the average family throws away £60 - 20kg - of food and drink, which adds up to around £730 - 240kg - per year.

Catherine David, Director of Collaboration and Change at WRAP, said: “Our research has shown that date labels on fruit and veg are unnecessary – getting rid of them can prevent the equivalent of seven million shopping baskets’ worth from our household bins.

"Storing most fruit and veg products in the fridge, below five degrees, will keep them fresher longer. We know that wasting food feeds climate change and costs us money. The influence of no date label or the right date label on what we use and what we throw away is huge.”

Sainsbury's and Asda have also said removing best before dates will help to achieve their aims of becoming a zero waste business and make significant cuts in their food waste.

Other supermarkets have also announced changes to food labelling.

Marks & Spencer announced in July it would remove best before dates on more than 300 products, while Tesco ditched them on more than 100 products in 2018. Waitrose will remove the labels from nearly 500 food items from September.

Earlier this year Morrisons scrapped its ‘Use By’ dates on 90 per cent of its own brand milk, encouraging customers to perform a sniff test.