Asda ditches best before dates on 200 fresh fruit and veg products

Following in the footsteps of Tesco, M&S and Waitrose, Asda is scrapping best before dates on hundreds of fruit and vegetable products in a bid to cut down on food waste.

From next month the grocer will be making the change to over 200 products across its UK stores with best before dates replaced with a code that Asda staff will use to check quality and freshness.

Food including citrus fruits, potatoes, cauliflowers, and carrots will all have the labels removed and comes as charity WRAP revealed that the average family throws away £60 worth of food and drink each month.

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By removing best before dates and encouraging customers to decide themselves if the food is edible, Asda is looking reduce food waste in the home and in the process save shoppers money.

WRAP director of collaboration and change Catherine David said: “We are delighted by this development from Asda to help tackle food waste in our homes.

“Our research has shown that date labels on fruit and veg are unnecessary – getting rid of them can prevent the equivalent of seven million shopping baskets’ worth from our household bins.”

Asda head of technical Andy Cockshaw said: “Reducing food waste in our business and in customers’ homes is a priority and we are always looking at different ways to achieve this.

“We know for customers this has become more important than ever in the current climate as many families are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis and are looking to make savings wherever they can.”

In July, Marks & Spencer said it would be scrapping best before dates on more than 300 fruit and vegetable products, while Tesco took best before dates off over 100 fruit and vegetable products in 2018.