A supermarket chain is to sell food that is up to a month beyond its “best before” date in a bid to cut food waste.
Customers shopping at any of the 125 East of England Co-op stores in the UK will be able to buy a variety of out-of-date items for 10 pence.
Products that will be on offer include tinned goods, packets, and dried food.
According to the Food Standards Agency (FSA), products past their “best before” date are safe to eat, but may not be at optimum quality.
The offer, however, won’t extend to items that have “use by” dates, which should not be consumed after the date has passed.
The move comes after a successful three-month trial in 14 of the Co-op’s stores.
Roger Grosvenor, Joint Chief Executive at the East of England Co-op said: “During our trial we found our 10p items went within hours of being reduced, sometimes quicker.
“The vast majority of our customers understand they are fine to eat and appreciate the opportunity to make a significant saving on some of their favourite products.”
He added, “By selling perfectly edible food we can save 50,000 items every year which would otherwise have gone to waste.”
The new campaign features the tagline, “Don’t be a binner, have it for dinner!” The FSA estimates that the UK throws away around 7.3 million tonnes of food per year.
“Use by” and “best before”
The definitions of “use by” and “best before” according to the food waste charity WRAP are as follows:“We look forward to seeing the results of this promotion, and hope it means less cost for people and less waste.”