Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the annual level of waste resulting from plastic wrapping used to cover cucumbers sold to consumers in the UK; and whether they have made any comparative assessment of the equivalent level of waste in (1) Germany, (2) France, (3) Italy, and (4) the Netherlands.

There is no specific requirement to wrap cucumbers in cling film or other wrapping, but food businesses are required to provide food that is both safe and fit to eat. Food businesses do cover cucumbers to improve the shelf life of these products and reduce food waste, as the environmental impact of wasting food is far greater than the packaging containing it.

We have had no discussions with retailers regarding the packaging of cucumbers over the last five years and have no plans to review the practice.

We do not collect data on specific packaging lines and formats and are not aware of any equivalent data relating to cucumber packaging from other Member States.