Around 350,000 tonnes of avoidable household food waste, worth an estimated £1bn annually, could be prevented through further changes to key food items in the UK’s shopping aisles, according to WRAP’s latest Retailer Survey.
Today’s (27 February) announcement comes as part of WRAP’s long-standing work with retailers and food manufacturers to help consumers waste less food.
Steve Creed, Director at WRAP – “Our report shows a mixed bag in terms of overall results. There are areas where good work continues to make a real difference and others where there is room for improvement. These insights provide a crucial snapshot of what industry is doing, and where more work is needed.”
The latest edition assesses how retailers and food manufacturers have progressed against the organisation’s original recommendations.
The key findings against WRAP recommendations show the number of products found to have two date labels fell from almost 40% in 2009 to less than 3% in 2015.
“Display Until”
Multiple labels confuse shoppers, according to WRAP, which found an almost complete removal of “Display Until” dates used in combination with either a “Use By” or “Best Before” date.
“Best Before”
Two high-volume products (hard cheese and pasteurised fruit juice) have moved away from predominantly carrying “Use By” labels to specifying a “Best Before” date instead.
This move gives consumers more time to eat the product and shows that industry can re-assess what date mark products should carry – and make significant changes – an action WRAP outlined in its Product Life Report in 2015, it says.
Freezing Guidance
WRAP also says more action is needed around freezing guidance. While good progress has been made in moving away from “Freeze on day of purchase” guidance to “Freeze before the date shown”, more action is needed on meat and bakery products. The use of the “Snowflake logo” to show suitability for home freezing has declined, and there is an urgent need to reinforce its value on pack.
“Open life”
Good progress has been made on when to offer “Open life” guidance once a product’s packaging has been opened (“once opened use within x days”). This should only be used on products where food safety is an issue. WRAP did note examples where the amount of time recommended for keeping food has been reduced; particularly for chilled chicken, cooking sauces and milk.
This cuts down the time available to eat the food and with around two million tonnes of food discarded due to it “not being used in time” – and date guidance cited as a factor for this – this remains a significant area to address, WRAP says.
Storage Guidance
Most products now carry storage guidance consistent with WRAP recommendations but it says action is needed on bread and potatoes.
Refrigerating Products
Guidance on refrigerating products is largely consistent with recommendations. However, WRAP says varying temperatures are used on similar products, such as chilled cooking sauces, cheese and yoghurts, and a significant percentage were found to cite temperature ranges outside current guidelines.
This is a concern, as WRAP has found that as few as a third of UK fridges are set within the recommended temperature range (below 5ºC), and another third operate above 9ºC.
Guiding the use of fridges at correct temperature of 5ºC or lower and storing the right foods in the fridge, which labelling can support, could add on average 3 days life to food and save households £280m a year.
Smaller Pack Options
There has been an increase in the availability of smaller pack options in a number of categories, such as bagged salads, pre-packed apples, carrots, potatoes, mayonnaise and cheese. However, the frequency of smaller pack sizes in some food categories has dropped, particularly for pre-packed bread and world breads and smaller loaves remain significantly more expensive on a per kilo basis than larger loaves.
Dramatic Effect
Steve Creed, Director at WRAP, said “We know that changes to packs and labels, which give clarity around date and storage options, can have a dramatic effect on how much good food ends up in the bin so getting the right messages in place is critical.
“Around 150,000 tonnes of household food waste was avoided in 2015 compared to 2007, as a result of technical changes to products, saving UK families around £400m a year.”
“Our report shows a mixed bag in terms of overall results. There are areas where good work continues to make a real difference and others where there is room for improvement. These insights provide a crucial snapshot of what industry is doing, and where more work is needed.
Heather Hancock, Chairman of the Food Standards Agency – “I believe it is important that information available on pack not only helps to ensure people have safe food, but that it makes it as easy as possible for them to manage and store their food to ensure less is wasted”
“They will help us drive forward change under Courtauld Commitment 2025, and will play a big part in re-energising the stall in household food waste reduction, that we recently identified. In fact, we are in discussions with the sector about trialling practical solutions that focus on making advice on storing and using our food as clear as possible.”
WRAP is currently working with UK Governments and the FSA on updating guidance on the application of on-pack date and related advice (storage and freezing guidance). This review will open for public consultation in the spring, with new guidance expected to be published in autumn 2017.
WRAP is also working with retailers and manufacturers through its food sustainability initiative Courtauld Commitment 2025, an ambitious voluntary agreement that brings together organisations across the food system – from producer to consumer – to make food and drink production and consumption more sustainable.
Heather Hancock, Chairman of the Food Standards Agency said: “The findings from this survey are very encouraging, but I think that there is still more that can be done, which is why the FSA is working closely with WRAP on updating the guidance on the application of on pack dates and related storage advice.
“I believe it is important that information available on pack not only helps to ensure people have safe food, but that it makes it as easy as possible for them to manage and store their food to ensure less is wasted”.