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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the amount of food wasted because consumers equate or confuse best before dates with use by dates.

Research published in 2014 by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) shows that 48% (2.0 million tonnes) of avoidable household food waste arises because the food is not used in time. A date label was mentioned as the trigger for disposal for one third of such instances (around 660,000 tonnes; 16% of all avoidable food waste).

The Food Standards Agency, Defra and WRAP are working to support industry, implementing more changes to help people waste less of the food they buy, through clearer date labelling and more effective storage and freezing advice. Updated industry guidance is expected to be published this year.