The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is to carry out a review of its date marking guidance in a bid to cut food waste.
The move follows a roundtable last month to discuss how to increase levels of redistribution of food waste.
The impact, application and understanding of date labelling – and in particular the challenges around “best before end” dates – was a “recurring theme throughout the event”, said the FSA. The need for a section of the guidance to address date marking for “food for redistribution rather than sale” was also identified.
The findings of the review will be published by July 2017.
According to new figures published by WRAP in May, over a million tonnes of avoidable food waste are produced in the manufacture and sale of food in the UK, worth £1.9bn. Food redistribution could be increased by at least four-fold, the organisation claimed.
Research conducted by Footprint, in association with The University Caterers Association, found that caterers struggle to redistribute leftover produce; many afraid they will fall foul of food safety laws. The barrier is likely to be more “mental” than legal, the report concluded.
